


A Hands-On Approach

by Claireton



Category: Dying Light (Video Game)
Genre: Apocalypse, Attempted Rape/Non-Con, F/M, Gen, Parkour, Profanity, Rare Fandoms, Zombies
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-22
Updated: 2016-04-17
Packaged: 2018-05-28 05:03:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 28,901
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6315835
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Claireton/pseuds/Claireton
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The reader is an investigative journalist insistent on publishing to the world the news about Harran's fate. When an attempt to gather evidence goes awry, her latest story might become her last.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Latchkey Hero](https://archiveofourown.org/works/6304081) by [Tafferling](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tafferling/pseuds/Tafferling). 



> Hello! Thanks for coming to read! I'm hoping to make this another story, though I don't know how far I can go with it, especially considering I still have another being done. However, I'm currently in the mood for it so that's all I need to get started!  
> Also, writing of this fic was inspired by Tafferling's own 'Latchkey Hero' Dying Light fic. Check it out, it's very much worth a read!  
> Enjoy!

You sat in the back of the news helicopter, shoulder raised to pin your phone against your ear as you rifled through different pages of information on your latest story; The Harran Outbreak. The pages contained various reports from a multitude of sources, some reliable, some not so much. You had planned to sort them out while the helicopter's attached camera collected footage, though between the sheer amount of them and your friend Eliza chatting in your ear, you feared there may be another sleepless night of working on the way.

"Well, you did promise that you'd come out with us tonight." she stated for the hundredth time.

"I know, I know." you responded, sighing through your words.

"But I only got offered this ride this morning and I don't know when I'll get another chance, Liz."

"Fine." she answered shortly, though you knew she never could stay mad for long.

"I'll let you off this time, but you're buying for me next time."

You smiled, folding the corner of one of the sheets to mark it for yourself.

"That sounds fair."

"What do you even need to go on the ride for? I thought you already had evidence." she inquired.

"I have _reports_ , Liz. I need some concrete stuff if I want this story to really get around." you explained.

"Wel-gues-..wou... " Eliza's words cut off and became static before the line died off completely.

You frowned, switching your sheets to one hand and taking your phone from your shoulder, looking at it in confusion. It seemed to be fine, other than the fact that it was showing no service. After thinking on it for a moment, you shrugged and put it up to your position in the sky. As you placed the phone back into your pocket the pilot of the helicopter called back to you.

"We're just over the slum part of the city now if you wanna take a look."

You nodded, though it couldn't be seen, and divided your current progress on the sheets into two piles before placing them on the seat opposite and shifting over to move closer to the window. Upon looking out, your eyes widened in a mix of incredulity and shock. You had known it would be bad, but this was something else.

The city of Harran lay below you, entirely destitute and in ruins. Minuscule figures littered the streets around the neglected buildings, much too far away to have their actions observed carefully, though many of them seemed to be hardly moving at all. Occasionally, the flickering of burning vehicles drifted into view, providing a change of pace from the otherwise drab aesthetics of the city. The tallest of all the buildings was a lone tower, not even fully constructed yet as it stood amongst the others like a supervisor amongst children. Multiple buildings held messages on their roofs , some asking for food or water while others simply read 'HELP.' Whatever kind of city it had been before, it was unrecognizable now. And that was only the slums.

Terrible as it was, however, you could see that the camera was about to pick up some real evidence for your case.

"Hey, so what is this ' _virus_ ' anyway?" the pilot called out again.

You continued looking at the city below as you answered, on the lookout for anything particularly interesting.

"From what I've heard, it's like some sort of contagious schizophrenia." you replied, thinking back on a few different interviews you had given.

"Damn." came the reply.

"My uncle was a schizophrenic."

Though he couldn't see you, you still raised your eyebrows in faux interest, a little pre occupied to hear about this random man's uncle.

"Oh?"

"Yep. Suffered a lot. Offed himself a few years back." he finished, rather apathetically.

"O-oh my. I'm sorry to hear that." you answered. Though it was sad, you didn't understand why a stranger felt it appropriate to tell you something like that.

There was again a response, but it was drowned out by a rather loud crashing sound from above you.

"Oh fuck!" cried the pilot, causing you to snap your head towards him worriedly.

"What? What's going on?" you asked, feeling panic on the rise in you.

You began to step forward before stumbling sideways as the helicopter made a harrowing jolt.

"We're hit! Strap yourself in!"

A torrent of questions came crashing onto you, but in the heat of the moment you managed to climb into a seat and secure yourself in. What did he mean you were 'hit'?  You turned your eyes to the window and watched helplessly as the helicopter spiralled, nearing the buildings below more and more. With each second, an endless supply of worries plagued you, too numerous to focus on a single one, so instead you simply sat there, mind blank with panic as you gripped the edge of your seat with vice-like hands. There was speech from the pilot, frantic in nature, but inaudible to you past the deafening chorus that wracked your being. By the way your throat was beginning to sting, you supposed you were screaming, though a painful throat was very low on your list of priorities, the foremost of which instead being the fact that the streets of Harran were but 5 seconds away from you.

\------

 

The crackling of fire was the first to greet your senses, continuously going, almost tauntingly, daring you to open your eyes and see the carnage that awaited you.

_Open your eyes._

The next sensation was the unmistakable tickle of warm blood dripping from your forehead, plastering hair to your skin like paper maché. It pained you to breathe, feeling your insides protest in agony, though it was a welcome difference to not being able to feel anything below your neck otherwise. 

_Open your eyes, don't fall back under._

There were murmurs amongst the noise of the flames, deep nothings that only held your attention for a split second each before your focus returned to yourself. It was possible that they existed only in your head.

**_Open your eyes!_ **

Your eyelids at last separated, albeit with excruciating slowness, flickering like broken light bulbs as they allowed you snippets of the sights that lay among them. Blurry figures stood some feet from the helicopter, no clearer in the daytime light than they would have been in dark. Somewhere in the deep recesses of your mind you wondered if they were victims of the virus. Some of them turned, and one of the larger looking ones had begun to move in your direction right as the edges of your vision began to blacken, your eyes having expended all the energy they had to spare. The figure stopped at arms length from you, and this time you could feel that the mumbling was directed at you. Though you tried, darkness claimed you long before you could even begin to make sense of it all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed the beginning of my newest story! I love the feeling of finishing the first chapter.
> 
> I'm not going to lie, I have no idea what the odds of surviving a helicopter crash like that actually are, and it probably should have blown up, but let's just ignore that in favour of having the story last more than one chapter.  
> Until next time!


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy!

"She's waking. Leave us."

You opened your eyes, being greeted with a tan, paint chipped ceiling and staring at it, lost, until your mind caught up with what was going on. You bolted upright, instantly regretting as your head buzzed in protest and your vision began to blur. Shutting your eyes, you raised a hand to your head, breathing shallowly. The last thing you could remember was sitting in the ruined helicopter, barely conscious as unknown figures surrounded the wreckage. Had they brought you here? Where  _was_ here?

"Relax, you're safe." sounded a smooth, deep voice that carried a Turkish accent.

You flinched, turning to your left to find a man in seating beside your bed, hunched forward with his elbows on his knees. He appeared middle aged, with a closely shaven head and a thick goatee surrounding his mouth. His eyes, tired and a tad sunken, stared right into your own, which were wild with curiosity.

"Well, as safe as one can get in this hell-hole of a city." he finished with a brusque chuckle.

You stared, slightly comforted by his words but still entirely confused.

"Who are you? Where am I?" you asked, your voice wavering with fear.

The man held up a rough hand to silence you, his head bowed, before he spoke again.

"In due time. You've been sleeping for days, you know." he mentioned, standing up from his seat and strolling toward a chest of drawers with a bottle and glass on top of it.

Beside the chest of drawers was the room's sole window, illuminating it with the bright daylight. You watched as he poured a clear liquid from the bottle to the glass, before deciding on taking the time to check out your surroundings. Behind the chair was a doorway, previously obstructed from view by the man, that appeared to lead into an apartment of sorts. Instinctively, you designated it your escape route in case of emergency. With thoughts of running on your mind, you looked down to your body to inspect your wounds, thankful that they were not painful enough to make you do so earlier. Your upper arms held a multitude of cuts and some bruises, though all of them appeared well on their way to being healed. You couldn't see your legs for your jeans, battered as those were, and you certainly weren't about to take them off, so in an attempt to gauge the damage you shuffled your legs around. They protested and creaked from lack of use, but otherwise seemed in decent shape. Thanking your lucky stars you raised a hand to your forehead, feeling the ridge of a healing cut before your company turned once more and made his way over, glass in hand.

"Drink. I imagine your throat is quite dry after all this time, no?" 

You took the glass, too disoriented to even manage a polite smile. 

"What's- uh, what is this?" you asked tentatively, looking into the glass.

"It's water." he answered plainly.

"Drink."

It seemed that he wasn't about to let up until you did, so with a quiet sigh you raised the glass to your lips and took a small sip. Warm as it was, you were grateful to find that it was in fact simply water. You drank again, relishing the feeling of it.

"If you would like more, you may ask me." the man declared.

You looked up as he spoke, catching his eyes with your own. They appeared to be trying to give a sense of warmth, but it was overshadowed by something else in his gaze that you couldn't quite put your finger on. Unsure whether to return the attempted warmth, you nodded in gratitude.

"Thank you, but this is enough for now."

The man nodded in return, and you expected him to get up and leave or something of the sort, but instead he remained where he was, watching you with the same expression. Made somewhat uncomfortable, you brought your eyes back to the glass in your hand and swirled around what little remained. Why was he staring at you like that? Or at all? You didn't know what to make of it, but no matter the cause this man was treating you with some amount of respect, and considering you didn't know what was going on the last thing you wanted to do was start making enemies. After a few more silent moments he spoke up again.

"Oh, forgive me. I haven't told you my name." he stated, extending a hand to you.

"You may call me Rais."

You took his hand, shaking it.

"(Firstname)."

"A beautiful name." Rais commented, flashing you a smirk before he raised your hand and kissed the back of it.

You froze for a second, unsure how to respond to his actions. Such romantic gestures were scarce enough without considering the current situation.

"So tell me (firstname), what is a woman such as yourself doing in a helicopter over Harran?"

Rais' eyes flickered with something nearing suspicion, as though he were expecting to catch you out in a lie. You did your best to ignore it as you answered, feeling a tad intimidated.

"Oh, I-uh, I'm a journalist." you answered.

"I see." came the response.

"So you had been planning to publish a story on our little city?"

You nodded, earning a curt chuckle from Rais.

"How noble of you. Ironic, but noble all the same."

You drew a breath to question it, but were cut off by Rais.

"And now that you have answered  _my_ questions, I shall return the favour. First, however, there is more suitable clothing ready for you in the bathroom. Please, make use of them and then we shall talk."

He stood again, and for the first time you noticed that he was wearing a jacket without a shirt. A gold chain lay strung around his neck, while a large tattoo decorated his bare chest.

"I shall be right outside once you are prepared."

You watched him leave the room, curious about his behaviour. Despite the fact that you were a total stranger, he treated you with such respect and cordiality that you might have been an old friend. Had he been one of the men to approach the wreckage of your helicopter? Maybe the one to treat your wounds? These questions and more rattled through your mind as you swung your legs over the edge of the bed and warily stood, bracing a hand against the wall to ensure you didn't fall. After growing reasonably confident in your ability to stand, you looked over to the window of the room again. You moved closer, watching as the vast city that was Harran came flooding into view, almost unrecognizable now that you were inside of it rather than above. From here, the dilapidated scenery only became all the more horrid. You could see the broken windows, the faded billboards, and the hollow streets in such exquisite detail that it sent chills through your body. Recoiling from the view, you instead trained your eyes on the room around you. All too accurately it reflected the current situation of the rest of Harran, with the bare walls cast in unflattering shades by the light, drenching the rest of the room in a dulling atmosphere. Heart heavy, you turned to the doorway that would lead you out of the room, with only one cold comfort to motivate you.

You were about to get more first hand experience for your story than you ever could have hoped for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again! I know the chapters are quite short but for this story I'm going to try a new method of planning out my stories (i.e planning them at all), so I'm trying to limit myself to only so many things per chapter. Hopefully you enjoy regardless.
> 
> Until next time!


	3. Chapter 3

You passed through the doorway, instantly met with a living room just as drab as the room you had woken up in. An overturned couch lay neglected as a small chair had been positioned beside it. Out of absent curiosity you approached, observing the filthy fabric of the couch with a small grimace. Once you were close enough to see over it however, your attention was stolen by a series of hand-prints that travelled up to a point, as though someone had fallen backwards while sitting and struggled to climb back up. Much as you wished it were so, the flaking red substance likely was not paint.

Consequently feeling more wary, you turned and scanned the apartment from where you stood. The only other stain of the same type was a rather large mess on the wall connecting the exit, reaching even to the door-frame but leaving the closed door unscathed. After some dwelling, you caught yourself, declaring it best not to worry about something that didn't seem an immediate concern. With the stories you had heard about what was going on in Harran, some signs of suffering were very much to be expected.

Instead, you set your sights on a door that ran parallel to the couch, cracked just so that it showed the side of a dirty looking toilet. You moved toward it, looking forward to getting your promised change of clothes. The ones you had on weren't anywhere near unusable, but they were quite dirtied from your journey thus far. You stepped in, closing the door behind you and going to give one last look outside before your eyes snagged in the mirror. Frowning, you peered through the grime and felt your self confidence take a dive as a disheveled woman glared back at you. Your appearance was certainly not of the utmost importance, but regardless you didn't fancy the idea of leaving while looking like you had been dragged through a bush backwards. True, you had suffered something much worse, but you were adamant nonetheless.

Bringing yourself to your hair first, you winced as your fingers snagged in your mangled locks, though persevered until they smoothened into a respectable state. Satisfied with your hair, you changed your attention to your grubby face, smeared with blood and dirt that had been allowed to fester much too long. Contesting which area to focus first, you swirled the tap heads around and waited. When it finally hit you that there was no sound of rushing water, you looked down and made a sound of acknowledgement to find clean water already waiting for you. Had Rais put it there? A somewhat embarrassing gesture that confirmed you needed a wash, but appreciated still. You pooled the water in your hand and stooped over, hissing at a sharp crack in your back but continuing once the pain has subsided. Some splashing later, your face was clean, save for the scar on your forehead, and you managed a content smile at yourself. Now for the rest.

You stepped back and took off your shirt, relieved to see but a few bruises and nicks on your chest. It seemed the majority of the damage had been delegated to your upper arms. You paused, looking to the water in the sink and back to yourself. Rais said you had been sleeping for days, so it might be for the best to wash up where you could. After stepping closer to the sink again, you did your best to keep the water off of the floor while you washed under your arms to the best of your ability. It wasn't something you were used to; being reduced to the bare minimum of washing, though to your pride you already felt as though it were something you could adapt to. Once finished, you let the dirtied water from the sink and turned to the toilet seat, with a neatly folded square of black fabric laying on top of it. You picked it up and blinked in surprise when the fabric unfolded, reaching almost to the floor as you gripped the uppermost parts of it. Rather than a simple t-shirt you had expected to pick up, there was instead a black, half sleeved maxi dress staring back at you. With a pensive frown, you remained staring at it for another few moments. Surely there had been some sort of mistake. Who in their right mind would wear a dress like that in a city like Harran? You folded it again and placed it back on the seat before pulling back on your own shirt. You considered taking the dress out with you, but abandoned the idea out of concern for appearing too demanding about it.

After you left the bathroom, you made way to the apartment's main door, casting your glance again over the stain on the wall before pulling it open and narrowly avoiding colliding with Rais' back. He stood in the doorway, arms folded and facing the hall as though he were a bouncer at a nightclub rather than simply standing in front of an apartment. At your struggle to avoid colliding with him, his head turned before the rest of his body followed. His lips parted as if to say something, but stopped as his gaze drifted up and down the length of your body. There was a silence between the two of you for a few moments before he went again, his gaze nearing a stern glare.

"Do you not like your new clothes?" he asked, voice carrying a trickle of bitterness in it.

Between his stare and his voice, you were immediately thrust into doubt. As much as you appreciated his treatment of you thus far, you had to admit to yourself that you hardly knew this man at all. Did he have a temper? Would he react badly to what you were about to say? You didn't want to offend him, but at the same time you couldn't see any sensible reason to putting on that dress. Ultimately, you chose to phrase it in the politest way that you could. He was already somewhat intimidating as was, and making that worse couldn't go well for you.

"Oh, n-no, I.. it's just.." you tried, words escaping you as you thought.

Rais' gaze did not falter at your stammering, only amplifying your nerves. You took a quick breath and plastered on a smile.

"It's lovely," you started, trying to soften the blow.

"But I'm just not sure if it's really.... _appropriate_."

Rais held his gaze for what felt like an hour before at last nodding.

"Ah, I see. A practical woman." he replied. He smirked, though it was as empty as could be.

"Well, perhaps in time you will come to change your mind." he proposed, turning and beginning to walk down the hallway without waiting to hear your response. He lazily raised a hand and beckoned to you without looking.

"Come. There is much for you to see."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Sorry if the chapters are a bit boring for now, but I've been trying to update them nice and quickly so that it's not too bad, especially considering they're quite short as of now.


	4. Chapter 4

You followed in silence, too absorbed in inspecting your area to think of something to say. The walls and ceilings in the hallway did not differ much from the apartment, having long lost any hint of life to them and being coated in varying degrees of dirt. There was noticeably more blood out here, streaking the floors as though something had been dragged through them, and you chalked it up to your imagination that it seemed fresher than that which had been found in your own apartment. Every few feet, different men sat, hunched over in worn looking chairs while bundled in varying degrees of filthy protective gear. Some of them looked up for a brief moment of intense staring before turning their gazes back to where it had been before. Overall, it did not feel like a very welcoming place. You came to an elevator just around the corner, the door of which Rais opened, stepping aside and ushering you in with a grand sweeping motion of his arm.

"Please. Ladies first." 

You offered a grateful smile at his chivalry, stepping in and waiting as he followed, closing the door behind him. He was certainly some form of an enigma. One moment, he was acting as he just had, being charmingly kind and respectful to you. There were moments, though, as you had experienced while explaining the dress, where you couldn't help but notice something else in his demeanour, something almost sinister. Whether it was up to imagination or intuition, you couldn't possibly decide.

Rais pressed the button for the lowest floor before falling into place beside you and clasping his hands behind his back in quite the professional manner. It seemed as though he were sticking out his chest more too, though you didn't want to stare.

"So, (firstname)." he began, keeping his gaze forward as you looked to him.

"Though you have rejected my offer of fresh clothing, I will look past it and give you answers that you seek."

Something told you that you should apologize, but you simply kept staring at him, waiting for him to continue. Was he really getting hung up on the dress?

"You are currently in the-..  _base of operations_ , shall we say, of my little group."

" _Your_ group?" you echoed, perking your eyebrows in interest.

Rais nodded tightly before speaking again.

"Yes. I am in control here. I keep charge of everything that happens."

The elevator came to a halt and Rais pushed the door open, pivoting to hold it for you, which you gratefully accepted. It led you to a stale smelling lobby, entirely desolate save for the emptied bags and suitcases that littered the floor. You stepped forward, peering through the filthy windows, barely able to make out smudged outlines of the world that lay beyond them. You heard the elevator door close behind you, and promptly jumped at having an arm fall around your back, resting on the furthest shoulder. You gave the hand a quick look over before turning to Rais, too surprised to even comment, even on the fact that having his arm in such a way meant that the side of his body was pressed against you. He, however, remained as calm as ever, half guiding - half pushing you toward the exit. Though you were more than a little put off, you still weren't sure enough of your place yet to potentially cause a fuss, so you steeled yourself and allowed the events to proceed as they would. It could have been worse, you reasoned. Rais pushed open the door and managed to fit the two of you through in one go, earning a plethora of half interested stares from the men scattered about.

Instantly, you winced at the assault of the sun's rays, blinking until your eyes adjusted. In spite of the light and the open air however, there weren't many differences to be seen from the inside to the outside. Questionable marks and scattered junk littered the ground, not glorified in any sense by the sun illuminating them. Sections of uneven, dead grass brought ends to the otherwise entirely concrete ground that led to an identical looking building right across from the one you had exited.

Rais guided you down a small collection of stairs before beginning to lead the way toward a large arch with impressive metal sheets covering it.

"Please excuse my... directness." he drawled, slowly curling the fingers on the hand around your shoulder.

"It is not very often a woman graces in my group, and I would not want the men to think you are... _available_."

Conflicted, you simply kept your gaze on the metal sheets ahead, which you soon realized were a a large set of doors. On one hand, you were grateful for Rais' intention; you didn't much fancy the idea of throngs of deprived, filthy men chasing after you, and in truth, it wasn't even something you had considered yet. But regardless, you couldn't ignore the way Rais had phrased it. Not only as if you were something that would _ever_ be available, but as though you were already taken. 

The metal doors pulled apart, shrieking sounds of clashing metal as the archway opened up. Rais began to lead you down the archway, arm still present regardless of the fact that you were out of sight of the courtyard.

"Tell me, (firstname), in the course of your job, have you ever actually  _seen_ what is under way here in Harran?" he asked.

You kept your eyes straight ahead, warily eager to observe more closely the city that was approaching more with each step.

"N-no, but I've taken interviews and reports." you replied.

You could feel Rais' chest shake as he chuckled quietly.

"Well, I do not think such things will prepare you for what you are about to see."

With that last comment certainly not helping your nerves, you came to a stop when the arch ended, placing you in a rectangular entryway, closed off from the outside by a makeshift barricade of tall metal fences and various sturdy objects and furniture. Ramps composed of the same materials led to the tops of the fences, with armed men stood atop, watching the outer area.

Rais' arm at last dropped from you, and instead he sidestepped into your view, inviting you up one of the ramps with a motion of his arm. The way he looked at you unsettled you, as though he were waiting for a cruel prank to come to fruition, but nonetheless you stepped forward. You began walking up the ramp, wondering somewhere in the back of your head if it would collapse, and feeling the sense of foreboding in you grow with each step. You weren't even sure what you were expecting any more, but it couldn't have prepared you for what came into view.

Countless people lazed about, staring into space or idly shuffling around the corpses that lined the ground. At first glance, there seemed nothing else amiss, but a look more closely sent pure ice through your veins, making your body seize with shock as you looked on. Tattered, filthy excuses for clothing hung loosely from the emaciated figures of these 'people', who themselves were no better. Their bodies, disturbingly off colour, were covered in lesions and defined in gruesome detail just how battered and sick they really were. In many of the limbs you could see holes of disturbing sizes, the exposed flesh long since infected and rotten. One in particular caught your attention, just barely identifiable as female in her state. At first, she stood just as passively as all the others, but without any warning she turned and fell to her knees beside a corpse with hardly any meat left on its bones. Her head bowed down with surprising swiftness, catching in her mouth a chunk of meat before ripping it off. You couldn't help a cry of shock as you watched, raising your hand to your mouth in reflexive defence of not vomiting. With it, the woman's head snapped toward you, eyes locking with yours as you stood, paralyzed. She pushed herself to her feet, teetering with difficulty before turning fully and beginning to shamble toward you. You watched as she came, hands outstretched up to you in vicious want, her breath ragged. She collided with the fence below, but it hardly seemed to faze her as she continued reaching out to you. Only now that she was so close could you truly appreciate just how destroyed her facial features really were. Her cheeks, sunken and torn, stretched thin as her mouth gnashed. Her lips were entirely gone, leaving behind sagging flaps of skin and rotten flesh that surrounded her decaying teeth. Most chilling of all, however, were her eyes. They were in total lack of anything human. Where in anyone else you could try to identify their feelings or nature through their gaze, this woman's were void of anything but feral desire, like a wild animal on the brink of capturing prey. In spite of everything else, it was these that ultimately cemented something you had thought since first seeing her; This woman was no human. The sole reason you were able to break from your daze was Rais' voice calling out to you again.

"I understand you must be quite shocked." he stated coolly.

You turned to him, still listening to the woman thumping on the fence. If it hadn't been there, you weren't sure that you could have moved out of the way in time for your shock.

"She- _that's_ not human." you said, feeling your voice shake.

Rais' mouth turned into an inexplicable smirk as he looked at you, speaking again following a pause.

"I suppose you might have thought there was some.. _cure._ An end to all this?"

You hadn't known what to think in the past. Through all the information you had gathered it didn't sound like anything that could be easily vaccinated, but at the same time you didn't know enough to make any real assumption. Rather than answer, you simply remained staring. After recognizing your silence Rais shook his head before answering, his voice suddenly thick with conviction.

"No. There is no cure. There is no easy way out. The strong survive, and the weak are eradicated." he finished, staring at you in a way that nearly felt like a challenge.

At that, you turned your head back to the creature below you. Had she been weak? But so what if she had been? Shouldn't everyone be in it together?

"Can't the strong protect the weak?" you asked, looking back to Rais.

"No!" Rais snapped, with such ferocity that it made you flinch.

"The weak must learn to adapt, or they die. That is how it works."

You looked on, unsure how to react. You could feel a cold tension within you as you locked eyes with one another, too nervous to say anything for fear of inciting more anger. Up to now, Rais had been a gentleman to you, but with that one moment your entire perception of him became skewed. How could he be so viciously adamant about such a barbaric way of thinking? You supposed it was true that sooner or later everyone would have to learn how to take care of themselves, including you, but why be so cold about it?

Just when the tension came to the tipping point, Rais' eyes closed and he loosed a deep sigh, his body language calming considerably before he looked back to you.

"But fear not. As long as you are here, you will remain safe under my care." he assured, his voice returning to the casual smoothness it carried before.

He moved toward the ramp, extending an upturned hand up to you. You stared at it, your thoughts laden with concern. Rais' ability to switch from threatening to charming was alarming, as though it were something he had some practice with. Should you trust someone like that? Could you? You were trapped in indecision before guttural growls brought your gaze back to the creature, still avidly clawing at the air between you. Surely dealing with a few outbursts couldn't be as bad as having to deal with everything that lay beyond that fence? Either way, you just weren't prepared to take on anything the way you were. There was no other choice.

You placed your hand into his, allowing him to guide you down the ramp. One you reached the bottom he let you loose, leaving you standing there and looking at him. You drew a breath to thank him before being interrupted.

"That is, of course, as long as you co-operate." he claimed.

Though his voice carried a hint of joviality, it was all too clear that it was a warning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! This chapter is relatively long, I messed up my plan a little so I had to fit more in it than intended. Unfortunately, I can't say they'll all be this length! I'll try to update it once more before my break ends, but Change of Plan is overdue for an update first!


	5. Chapter 5

"So, (firstname), as a matter of interest; Have you yet changed your mind about the clothing?"

Rais' expression was simple but it spoke volumes to you. Though you managed to keep yourself from showing any signs of such thinking, you were anxious about your response. He had only just made a point of mentioning that it was your safety in return for your co operation. A part of you wanted to believe you were just being paranoid, overthinking and making ridiculous assumptions, but another part, an instinctual voice that you had come to trust in your years, hollered at you to insist you were being tested. After Rais' earlier outburst about adaptability, you weren't comfortable making any assumptions about how he would react, and that meant for your own safety you had to expect the worst. You forced a light smile, having it met with an expectant raising of eyebrows.

"As a matter of fact, I would love to change." you answered. At seeing Rais' appeased smile, you dared to hammer the nail further.

"Now that I don't have to be worried, it doesn't matter what I wear right?" you asked, before mentally wincing in regret. Perhaps that sounded a bit too much like a child asking a teacher something.

Rais, however, seemed completely satisfied with your answer, returning a simple nod.

"Excellent. I have business to attend to, but if you like I could escort you to your room first." he offered, giving a roguish grin, and just barely lifting his hand past his hip, outstretched to you.

As much as you wanted to play along by co operating, more of Rais' guiding you around was not something you were prepared to make a regular occurrence. Even in spite of that, you still wished to get a better view of the area surrounding the gates. Who knew if the information would come in handy?

"Oh, well thank you," you began as politely as you could,

"But if it's okay I'd like to get a better look at the area."

In your peripheral vision you saw his hand slowly curl into a fist before disappearing behind his back, along with the other. Despite the somewhat aggressive hand gesture, however, he retained a graceful smile and bowed his head.

"Of course. Take all the time you need."

You nodded and turned, ready to make way back up the ramp you had been on before.

"I trust you are not foolish enough to attempt to escape, yes?"

Taken aback somewhat, you looked back to Rais with your eyebrows raised. 'Escape' was a rather peculiar verb to use for someone claiming he offered you only safety. Perhaps he had meant escape from Harran? But then, wasn't everyone trying to escape from such a nightmare?

"Of-of course." you confirmed, simply saying what you thought would please him best.

Rais turned and moved back through the arch without another word, leaving you to the sounds of the carnage behind you. You were glad for the men stationed at the other ramps, despite the fact that it seemed these creatures were incapable of climbing anything.

The first thing you thought of was looking back to where the one that had noticed you was. This time however, there was nothing in the spot below you but scraps of litter, mercilessly hammered into the ground by innumerable footsteps upon them. Out of curiosity you searched for her again, tracing your eyes along the filthied ground. Eventually your eyes met with a small walkway of sorts, banked by grassy terrain on both sides. It looked as though it might have been quite pretty once, when the grass was tended, and perhaps with some flowers growing too. From where you stood, however, it resembled in chilling detail a scene from an apocalyptic movie. You continued up the concrete until you found the creature again, standing around idly while others just like her shambled in broken paths, unsure themselves where they were headed. Suddenly aware of the chorus of shallow, sickly breathing that emanated from the crowds, you shivered and rubbed your hands together. How could people sleep through such a noise?

Losing interest in the original woman rather quickly, you instead observed her companions. Three of the four were dressed just as she was, draped in clothing that even a homeless person back home would refuse. The fourth however, was dressed very uniquely by comparison. He donned a t-shirt that was, by comparison, pristine, looking relatively clean. His dull green khaki trousers were secured tightly to his shins by what appeared to be duct tape, and he wore an expensive looking back of muddy black boots. Even his body itself seemed to be in good condition, save for the unhealthy pale tone it shared with the other creatures. You wondered how he had even come to that fate before he swivelled around to wander listlessly in another direction, and you caught site of the painful looking chunk missing from his right calf. Through your time gathering evidence for your case, you had heard that the virus was contagious. Was it spread through wounds like that? You briefly considered it before remembering how the first woman had began feasting on what was left of a corpse. It took you a moment before you could fully convince yourself that what you were dealing with was complete, straight-out-of-the-movies zombies. It did make sense, however, much as the rational part of your brain stamped its feet and roared to let it be known that zombies were fictional.

With a new outlook on your situation, you removed your eyes from the unique creature and glossed over the surrounding area. The first thing to catch your eye was the massive tower that you had spotted on your helicopter ride over the city. From there, it only seemed so much bigger, reaching up to impossible heights. Your eyes slid down the side of it, giving you the information needed to hazard a guess at how many stories it had, but once at the bottom they latched onto something that only entered your notice by pure chance; a face staring right at you from inside the overgrown grass beside the walkway.

You jumped, trapped in staring at them. They glared back at you without so much of a hint to their emotion on their face. It seemed that they didn't want to be seen, very clearly lying down in the grass, and it was certainly no mistake that they happened to be facing the fence. You briefly considered them being infected, but quickly dismissed the though as you strained your eyes for a closer look. Their skin was nothing in tone similar to the infected you had seen so far, and their eyes lacked the emptiness that seemed to go hand in hand with the virus. Thinking on the guards nearby, you wondered if you should tell them, clueless about the est path to take. You could only see the person's face after all, not even able to discern them as male or female. What if they were injured and you couldn't see it? With this new thought in mind you resolved to mention it. Surely it would be better to be certain?

"Hey." you tried, ending up speaking quieter than intended.

"Hey!" you repeated, louder. Your eyes lingered on the face in the bushes before switching to one of the guards, with his head turned to you.

"I think there's someone over there." you mentioned, jerking your head toward the bush.

"Some- uh, someone not.. infected." you finished, rather lamely.

"Where?" the guard questioned, stepping toward you much as his ramp post would allow.

"There in the-" you began, turning your head back to find the face gone.

"Grass.."

The guard narrowed his eyes toward the grass, lazily raising his weapon after.

"Woah, hey!" you called, raising your hands in an instinctive attempt at calming him.

"What the hell are you doing?" you asked, appalled.

"You said there was someone there." he replied, a hint of anger in his voice.

"Yeah- I said _someone was_   _there,_ I didn't ask you to shoot someone!" you snapped.

The man shot you a venomous glare before returning to his original position.

"Don't waste my fuckin' time, bitch."

You blinked, almost not believing your ears as you bit back a response about wasting the time of someone just standing there. Was this guy just a bad seed, or were all of Rais' men like this? With a final glance back at the grass you shook your head and stepped down the ramp, heading into the arch way. Even though it was quite dark the further you got in, you were perfectly able to make out Rais awaiting you at the end, his back to open arch as he smiled at you.

"Ah, I was just coming to make sure you hadn't run off." he confessed, a small chuckle in his voice.

You felt you should smile back, but annoyance pulled at you instead, forcing your face into an indifferent stare.

"I told you I wasn't going to do that." you replied, trying to keep your voice even but feeling the unintentional bite to it.

Rais bowed his head, the smile dimming but never fully leaving his features.

"Forgive me. I simply want you to be safe with me."

This time you managed to fake a grateful smile. At first, Rais' attention to you had felt chivalrous and comforting, but it was quickly growing creepy. Still, you knew that you would have to play along with him, even if only until you learned how to take care of yourself. If it came to that.

"Well, thank you." you responded.

"Of course." Rais stated.

"Now, I believe you have a certain item of clothing awaiting you upstairs."

You barely managed to hold back a sigh, exchanging it instead for a nod. As you stepped past Rais and mad your way for the apartment building, one menacing thought taunted you from the deep recesses of your mind.

Perhaps choosing Rais over the outside hadn't been right after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YAWN super boring chapter but it needs to be done, I've gots me my plan to follow~~~
> 
> I promise, SUPER DUPER EXTRA promise that exciting things will happen next chapter. And I am going to get said chapter done in the next few days. It's the one I've been building up to with all these poopy chapters so get hyped!(But not too hyped in case I let you down. Maybe just get like, somewhat interested.)


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay this chapter is literally 740% (rounded up) longer than what I had intended, but read on and I will explain myself at the end!

You stared into the bathroom mirror, silently judging yourself.

Admittedly, it was quite a nice fit. The delicate black material was cool and gentle on your skin, though thin as paper, leaving you with the uncomfortable feeling of almost not even having the dress on at all. It was clean too, having been spared thus far by the grime and blood that you had seen caked on to just about everything up to this point. You tugged at the end of the half sleeves, pulling them down fully and allowing them to cover the damage coating your upper arms. As flattering as it made your upper half look, however, the trade off was a split in the leg that you hadn't noticed the first time, reaching just to the top of your thigh. The neck line was nothing to brag about either, and you earnestly tried to hike it up a bit, knowing that it would do you no favours on the 'not drawing attention to yourself' front. When it refused to go out of shape, you let out a defeated sigh. On the bright side, there hadn't been any shoes to go with it, giving you the liberty to wear your own, comfortable ones. You glanced wistfully to your regular clothes, perched on the toilet seat. Dirty as they were, you would have chosen them over your current ensemble any day.

Taking a deep breath, you picked up the old clothes and stepped out to the living room, trying to lift your own spirits up on the matter. Perhaps it wouldn't be so bad. Maybe you would be left alone and could just live in this group peacefully. With what you had seen thus far of the group's persona, it was a dim hope, but still you clung to it purely for the sake of having a positive though to hang on to. You moved into the bedroom, approaching the chest of drawers beside the window. One of the more stubborn drawers seized up as you tugged it, but after a series of hearty pulls it opened at last. You placed your clothes in with care before shoving the drawer shut again. After smoothing the dress out once more with your hands you travelled out into the hallway, grateful for the fact that no one was waiting there this time. You had already begun to make way for the elevator when a thought dawned on you; Without anyone to escort you, you were at liberty to look around on your own terms. Whatever business Rais was up to, he wasn't by your side any more, and you had no idea how rare such a chance may be. The men in the hallway seemed to care little when you turned on your heel and returned to the outside of your apartment, staring down the path you hadn't taken yet. For the most part, it was the same as anywhere else, dulling colours fading off of the walls and the occasional door to mark a new room. At the end however, was a doorway that lead out to what seemed an important room. Even in the fading light of the afternoon it was illuminated enough for you to have a clear sight of what the doorway allowed. Cardboard boxes of varying size had been stacked atop a small wooden pallet, weighed down by a five gallon bottle that you couldn't discern as empty or not from your location.

Curious about the nature of the room, you began making your way toward it. As you neared more of the contents drifted into view, piquing your interest with each step. A computer desk, short and battered, peeked around the edge of the doorway, with a small TV atop it reflecting some sort of figure in its lifeless screen. You picked up pace, interest now rampant. Just as a bulky, long orange crate came into view, so did a very tall man, making you jump as he glared down at you from the doorway. He donned militaristic gear, a thick armor vest with just the neckline of what appeared to be a black vest sticking out from above. He was as muscular as he was tall, and though he seemed as though he was like any of Rais' other men, he was by comparison well kept, with his trousers, black knee pads and large boots being quite clean. Where other men were often seemingly staring at nothing, however, this one was very deliberately staring you down, his aged and weathered features contorted into anger.

"Rais is outside." he stated matter of factly, with a deep, booming voice to match his appearance that carried an accent similar to Rais'.

"Oh?" you sounded.

"Well, I was just-" you tried.

"I don't care. Rais is outside." the man cut off, never letting up on his glare.

You bit the inside of her lip firmly, doing your best not to get snippy with a man who looked like he could snap you in half with his little finger.

"Okay. Thank you." you managed calmly, forcing your lips to a tight smile.

You remained there, hoping in vain that he would feel like he won and walk off. When he didn't, you gave him one last look over before turning and heading back the way you had came. A decent amount of steps later you risked a glance back to find him still there, though with his back now to you. Now only more determined to see what was inside, you made a mental note to try whenever you got another chance. _If_ you did. before you turned away, however, your eyes snagged in an interesting detail on the back of his vest; three yellow lines, slashed across the middle in diagonal lines. They didn't seem very significant, but nonetheless they held your interest for a few moments. There was something about them, the way they were at the same time careless but so precise. With a shrug to dismiss yourself, you continued down the hallway, making a commendable effort to ignore the heavy stares of the men stationed throughout, but at the same time noting in your peripheral vision that all of these men carried the same yellow markings on their clothes, even if mostly obscured by filth. You hadn't even noticed them before, perhaps a mark to show that one was a member of Rais' group? As you entered the elevator and pressed the button, you wondered if you would have to get one too. If that were the case, you hoped you would be able to do it yourself, seeing as with everyone else the mark was across the chest.

Once the elevator came to a stop, you stepped out, shutting the door behind you.  Even from there you could hear the sounds of talk outside, though there was nothing discernible through the grimy windows. You approached the door, only pausing to listen when you recognized the tone of one of the voices as being quite panicked. The other voice seemed quite calm, and you couldn't help but grow curious at the situation. You pushed down the handle slow as you were able, feeling your heart twitch with anticipation. One last glance behind you revealed that no one was around, and so with agonizing slowness you cracked the door open.

Instantly, the afternoon light flooded your vision, swarming you until your eyes adjusted and allowed you to see clearly. Right across from your building, at the end of the path that led to the one opposite, was Rais. He stood over a green, wooden box that had been dragged up to that point to make a table of sorts. With his voice as deep and calm as ever, you couldn't quite make out what he was saying to the man that sat in front of him, his arms forced onto said crate by two of Rais' men, though he was anything but calm himself. He sat, his eyes wide with fear as he looked up to Rais. He wore a raggedy red jersey, with a logo for a sports team that you'd never even heard of drawn on the front. It didn't have the same markings as all of Rais' other men, though. Was he just a regular person? An outsider? Perhaps that would explain why he looked as though he was staring death in the face. His short, deep brown hair jagged out at random angles, as though it had been cut by someone who had absolutely no idea what they were doing, perhaps even himself. His facial features were quite prominent, and he might have even been handsome at some point, but it was obscured by the smudged dirt that coated his skin. He looked only to be your around your age. Rais turned to pace forward a few steps, and it was then that you saw the large blade that rested in his grip.

Your eyes widened, gaining a new, more fearful outlook on the situation and gripping the door tighter. Based on his inflection, it sounded as though Rais asked a question as he returned to his original spot, and the man responded quickly. You hardly had time to wonder what was said before Rais brought the blade sharply onto the man's right hand, completely severing it.

You jumped, letting out a yelp as the man cried out in pain, clutching his maimed arm. It was entrancing, seeing the blood spurt out and slick the crate with thick red while the anguished howls of the man invaded your ears. After much writhing, Rais' men at either side gripped the man's underarms, dragging him off. You were curious to where they were headed, but stole a glance to where Rais had stood to find him looking straight at you.

The door slammed shut before you had even consciously decided to do so. With panic in your heart you watched it and stepped back, headed for the elevator. You didn't know what excuse he was going to think up, and frankly you didn't care. All you did know was that you had to get out of there. Anywhere would have to be better than being with such a psycho. Your back collided with the elevator door, and you blindly fumbled for the handle, all the while keeping your gaze on the entrance to the lobby. After your fingers at last found purchase, you stepped in and pulled the door closed, hammering the button for your floor. You weren't sure exactly how you were going to go about leaving, but without doubt you were going to have to change out of that god forsaken dress first.

 After a few moments of impatiently jittering about, the elevator at last came to a stop and you near leaped out, restricting yourself to a power walk so that you wouldn't look suspicious sprinting down the hallway. With your speed, the split of your dress swayed backward, though you were much too focused on everything else at that moment to care about a few men seeing your leg. Even if they did and it distracted them, then so the better, you thought. You barged into the room, not even bothering to close the door as you sped to the bedroom and zoned in on the chest of drawers. With urgency you pulled at the handle of the drawer holding your clothes, only to have it refuse to budge again.

"Are you fucking kidding me?!" you growled, fervently jerking the handle.

One very invested pull left you stumbling back, with the drawer handle flying out of your open hand to hit the wall behind you. In disbelief you looked back to the drawer, and felt immense relief overcome you to find it had shimmied just enough to get your fingers in and open it the rest of the way. Clothes in hand you stepped out of the bedroom.

"Going somewhere?" Rais asked, his hands clasped behind his back as he watched you from the apartment entrance.

Your heart leapt with surprise as you looked at him, though by virtue of your conviction you managed to avoid freezing up.  Rais kicked the door shut with his heel before taking a step forward, staring at you with the smallest of smiles. You still weren't fully sure what he was capable of, and so you thought on your answer. Straight up telling him you wanted to leave was very likely not going to go well, so you wondered about making up an excuse for getting changed again and then just leaving the moment you had the chance.

"Ye-I, I just was going to get changed." you lied, cursing yourself for stuttering.

"Oh, and why is that?" Rais asked lowly.

He began to slowly step toward you, and you matched his steps going backward, feeling your heartbeat quickly skyrocket.

"I hope my little...  _punishment_ outside did not frighten you." he stated, his tone slipping into a drawl as he neared.

"Uh-" you began, interrupted when your back collided with the wall.

"Uh n-no, of course not. I'm sure he had it coming." you claimed, nodding your head quickly. By now, any of the angry determination born from your desire to leave had melted away and been replaced with anxiety.

"Indeed. But forget about such things." came the reply, with Rais continuing his path until he was less than arms length from you.

"Instead, let us focus on why you are so eager to exchange such a dress for these  _scraps_." he finished the sentence with a sweep of his hand to knock your clothes to the floor.

Before you could bend to reach for them, Rais' arm shot out in front of you, bracing the rest of his body against the wall as he leaned in closer. You could feel his breath tickle your skin as he spoke, his eyes locked onto yours in an unsettling display of desire.

"Especially when said dress makes you look so...  _exquisite_." he whispered, moving his mouth to your ear for the final word.

You stared at a wall to your side, completely lost on how to respond. Only when Rais' hand ghosted up your thigh did you at last break from your stupor, pushing the hand away and looking into his eyes with an attempt at conviction. Still you couldn't think of any words that might actually help, suspecting that a simple 'No.' wasn't going to get you anywhere. Rais gave a deep chuckle before speaking in a hushed tone.

"There is no need to be shy. Come."

His hand reappeared, feeling above your hips only to be swatted away again by you. There was a tense pause in which his eyes flickered onto yours, the lusting that had once been present now replaced with a frown.

"Okay, (firstname), enough fooling around." he muttered, an edge to his voice.

His rough fingers came into contact with the skin of your exposed thigh,  warming up the places it touched. In shock, you couldn't react for a few moments. Then, the fingers made their way past where even the dress dared not go, and before any rational thoughts could form your hand stung from a well placed slap across his cheek.

There was a utter silence as the two of you paused. Then his eyes, wide with fury, challenged your own, and though you tried to match him, regret was instantly swarming through you.

"Rais-" you tried.

Rather than let you finish, however, Rais came at you, slamming you up against the wall and pinning you there, earning a cry of pain as your head cracked against it. His hands attacked your body roughly, and out of instinct your hands were up at his shoulders, desperately trying to push him back. You made some progress, too, until he forced your arms above your head, easily pinning them with one hand and allowing his other to continue. Still you writhed, hearing your own frenzied breath as you desperately tried to escape. You had begun to try thinking of a new plan of action when Rais stopped, his head turned to the side and staring at the wall behind him. You listened too, and even over your roaring heartbeat you could hear the sound of sporadic gunfire. It continued for a few moments before dying down entirely.  Rais turned his head back around, not even bothering to look anywhere above your waistline.

"Now, where were we.." he muttered.

When the gunfire stared again, Rais aimed a punch at the wall so close to your head that you felt the air push against your skin. He froze there for a moment, his closed eyes carrying a frown, before relenting and and lowering his arms by his side. You watched, too afraid to make any sudden movements for fear of what he might do.

"We will continue this later." he threatened, not meeting your eyes again as he turned and stepped out of the room.

As soon as the door closed you allowed your knees to give in, sending you to the floor kneeling. For the first time you became aware that you had been crying, and with trembling hands you rubbed away the tears along with their dried residue. You sat there for you didn't know how long, absently listening to the sounds of gunfire outside and letting your body cool down as you replayed the events over and over in your head. Whatever was the source of that gunfire, it had saved you.  And based on Rais' last words, you wouldn't want to stick around to find out what had started it.

You spurred into action, not even bothering to get to the bathroom before standing up and pulling off the dress. You cast it aside, letting it flutter to a corner of the room before snatching up your own trousers and beginning to pull them on past your shoes. With one leg in, you cursed when they snagged on your other foot, hopping around and continually tugging on them until at last they came up. You pulled on your shirt, making sure everything was secure before looking to the door.

"Alright, okay (firstname)." you muttered to yourself, already feeling a nervous sweat break before you even took a step.

"Okay okay okay... just- go. Go. Do it." you ordered yourself, though still your body would not move.

With the sound of extremely close gunfire suddenly making itself welcome in the apartment, your body released itself from its helpless state. It sounded as though it were right outside the door, and as you began fearing for the worst you swivelled your head around in search of some form of self defence. Your search through the living room proved fruitless, and so you ran into the bathroom, your eyes immediately coming to rest on the lid atop the toilet's cistern. You knew that it would be heavy, but once it was hanging solely from your hands you realized just how impractical it would be to try defend yourself with such a thing. Besides that, there was no way you could lug it around and run at the same time.  Grunting with effort as you hoisted the lid higher, you looked to the mirror. There were concerns of stabbing yourself with filthy shards that would surely leave an infection, but another round of gunfire made you realize that there was no time to second guess yourself. Whatever was going on, you were certain people were dying, and you would do unless you tried whatever you could think of.

You flipped the lid up to your shoulder, letting it rest there as you positioned yourself to hit the mirror. In it, you could see your own reflection, but this woman looked even more petrified than you felt. You nodded to her to assure that everything would be alright before turning your head away and swinging the lid with everything you could muster. With a thick cracking sound and the sound of showering glass, you did a body scan to find there were no irregular or sudden pains. The lid in your hand was considerably lighter, having split itself once it made contact, but still you knew it would be too awkward. You let it fall to the ground and grabbed a promising shard of mirror that had fallen in the sink. It was sharp all over, and you knew that holding it the wrong way could do some serious damage to your hand, but there were no other options. You tried to think of a way to protect your hand better, when the discarded dress entered your thoughts. Surely if you wrapped enough of it around your around it could serve as a sort of handle?

You tentatively stepped over the debris on the floor, not wanting glass in your shoe to be your downfall, and had just stepped out of the bathroom when the apartment door's handle began to rattle fervently. You shrank away, watching whoever was on the other side struggle. Rais had to have locked it, you'd never seen it get stuck before.  That would also mean that it couldn't have been him on the other side. Though grateful for that, you still doubted you could trust any of his men, and so you ducked back into the bathroom, just barely having enough time to shut the door before you heard the telltale snapping of wood as the apartment entrance was kicked open. You backed up, shard outstretched and feeling adrenaline begin to pump through your veins. Your hand shook with it, but still you kept it trained on the door, determined not to let whoever was beyond take you down without a fight.

"Dr.Zere?" the voice called out. It was american, definitely male, rough but carrying a sense of urgency with it.

"You in here?"

You heard heavy footfalls march around the living room before becoming fainter and disappearing entirely. You froze for a moment, stilling your breathing and trying to extend your hearing beyond the apartment. When no more sounds made themselves known, you approached the door, turning your head to hold your ear close to it and listen. Still you could hear nothing, but you needed to be absolutely sure, and so you graduated to nearly pressing your ear against the wood, bracing yourself with your hands. You still held the shard, though had it pressed against the door with a thumb under it to prevent it falling. Then, two strikingly close footsteps sounded before you lost your support, stumbling out with your arms flailing.

"The fuck?" you heard the same voice as before grunt before you colliding with the owner.

The force sent him back a few steps and let you bounce off, uneasily regaining balance before at last looking up to the new arrival.

The first noticeable detail was that he was taller than you. A good bit taller, with a broad chest to suit his height. His brown hair was cut short in a style that wouldn't have looked half as good without the thick stubble that enhanced his jawline. Though he couldn't have been far from your own age, there were light frown wrinkles in his forehead, likely brought on by a habit of furrowing his brows, just as he was doing at that moment.  He wore a heavily faded khaki shirt, with two chest pockets and the sleeves unceremoniously hoisted up to his elbows. With it being only half buttoned, the neckline of a juniper green undershirt stuck out, sagging lifelessly so that the top of his chest could be seen. A flashlight was haphazardly secured to his right shoulder with some duct tape, too, resting at a precarious looking angle. His dirtied blue jeans had only random segments of the shirt stuffed into them, with one part draped over a compact, zippable belt bag. A quality looking pair of running shoes were dirtied beyond hope, shuffling against the floor as their owner regained his own balance. You could see that his right hand was protected by a fingerless glove of sorts, though the more important detail concerning that was the rifle that hung from it.

You thrust the hand with the shard forward with intent to defend yourself, only to find it empty. A frenzied look to the floor revealed it as having slid across the floor as you stumbled. You managed a single step toward it before his voice stopped you.

"Don't even think about it." he ordered.

You turned to him, your body locking up out of fear after you raised your hands. The barrel of the rifle stared at you, aimed right for your chest. After deeming attempt to move useless, you looked up and stared at its owner. His face was contorted into one of anger, though you could swear you saw it flicker briefly once your eyes made contact. You took that as your chance to do something, anything to help yourself. But what could you say? It was doubtful he had much time to listen to you, and even if he did, he mightn't have the patience.

"Please.." you managed, feeling the backs of your eyeballs begin to tingle with the warning of tears.

This time, the man's expression definitely faltered. His eyebrows raised for a few moments before he swept his gaze behind you. After a few tense moments, rather than returning to his scowl, you instead saw a kind of suspicious curiosity as he looked you up and down before lowering the gun, a sigh escaping his lips.

"Look, I won't hurt you. Just tell me, have you seen a man named Dr.Zere around here? Kinda old, black.."

You shook your head, and as you stared at the man it suddenly struck you that this man was not carrying the same mark that all of Rais' men had. In fact, he was dressed so wildly different to everyone you had seen so far that you couldn't believe you hadn't noticed it earlier.

"Wait, you're not one of Rais' men?" you asked, hope instantly on the rise in you.

The man almost seemed offended by your question, looking at you as though you had asked the stupidest question in history.

"No, I'm not one of Rais' fuckin' men." he answered before giving a glance at the entryway.

"So-so you're leaving here eventually, right?" you continued, lowering your hands and feeling the shift from fear to apprehensive excitement in you.

"Not without Zere." he answered resolutely.

Well, that was as close to a yes as you needed from him. Right now, he was the only one in the building you thought you could trust.

"Take me with you." you requested, stepping forward and staring him directly in the eyes.

"What?" the man hissed, his eyebrows furrowing again.

" _Please._ " you begged.

"Just- just get me out of here and I'll be out of your hair. You'll never see me again." you promised.

"Yeah, okay okay, fine." the man responded, releasing a hand from his rifle to extend in silencing.

You couldn't stop the smile that spreads across your face, grasping the man's free hand in both of yours and shaking it fervently.

"Thank you. Thank you." you repeated, before he pulled his hand free and repositioned it on the rifle, turning to the doorway.

"Well, don't thank me yet. We haven't even left the room." he chided.

"Right. Sorry." you answered, feeling a little embarrassed for your eagerness.

"Hey, what's your name?" he asked, stopping at the doorway to peer out in both directions.

"(Firstname)." you answered, watching him inspect the hallway. In your excitement, it had slipped past your memory that there was a reason for all the gunfire that you had heard, and you had probably just found him.

"Crane." he stated, at last stepping out and quickly moving off, leaving you to catch up.

He made his way toward the doorway that you had been blocked access to earlier, raising a flat hand into the air once he reached it. Unsure what to think of the gesture, you simply stuck close behind as he entered the room, back slightly bent,  sweeping the rifle across the area before turning around and narrowly avoiding smacking you with the gun as he flinched.

"Jesus fuckin- You're supposed to wait back there until I tell you it's clear." he growled, straightening his back again and scowling down at you.

"What?" you asked, glancing back to the doorway in confusion.

"Haven't you ever seen anyone do this before?" he asked, raising his hand in the same way he had in the doorway.

"Oh,  _that's_ what it meant." you muttered, more to yourself than him.

Crane glared at you in silent judgement for a few moments before turning around.

"Just come on." he ordered, heading for the only other exit of the room at a steady pace.

He led you to a double doorway, the doors being half empty with vacant panels on the upper halves. One of them was secured shut by a collection of items stacked against it, forcing you to go single file. A loud, aggravated yelling sounded from the other end of the hall before a figure appeared around the corner.

"Shit, back up!" Crane barked, stepping back toward the doorway as the banging of gunshots sounded.

You ran back, swinging yourself through the doorway by your hand and pressing up against the adjacent wall. While you watched little black dots pepper the wall facing the open door, Crane fell into a crouch, taking cover behind the lower half of the sealed door. It wouldn't have protected him at all if not for the items stacked against the other side to shield it. You clenched your fists, silently steeling yourself for the situation. If it came to it that you would have to get involved, you would be no use a shivering pile of fear.

Crane waited for the other's gunfire to die down before risking a look around the door. Whatever he saw, he deemed it a worthy opportunity to take a step forward and fire off a few shots of his own. It continued this way, the two trading spurts of gunfire between one another with no results, until Crane changed his angle, standing up in his cover and firing again. The first few shots were the same as all the others, zipping off to no avail. Then, a dull, painful sound of a bullet colliding with flesh followed by the splashing of blood on the ground met your ears. This time, there was no return of gunfire, and Crane's posture relaxing somewhat told you that this exchange had ultimately come to an end. Still, you allowed him to step out first, taking a glance over the edge of the door frame before following.

The man lay on the floor, his empty gaze absorbed in the ceiling. You couldn't see his face for the mask he wore, though you were glad for the fact, the only detail visible behind it being the bloody mess of flesh that peeked around from above his right eye. He was definitely one of Rais' men, covered up in soiled clothes that bore the yellow mark. One of his hands lay beside his head, open palm facing the ceiling, while the other still clung loosely to a pistol. It was black all over, with a thick handle and rectangular slide. At the end of the handle, a smaller ridge of black jutted out, most likely the bottom of a magazine. A square guard did its part to protect the trigger from any misfiring.

"You know how to use this thing?" Crane asked, dipping down to pick up the weapon and holding it out to you.

You took it, looking down at the pistol with a nod. It was a bit heavier than it looked. You had taken a brief course on gun handling some years ago, as part of a getaway trip with some friends, though the training had gone unused for so long that you could only remember the basics. Even then, the course hadn't trained you with the intent of shooting live targets that were shooting back.

"Uh, yeah. Kind of." you answered, switching your grip to hold the pistol properly, tentatively resting your finger on the trigger before looking back up to Crane.

"Just try to stay out of sight and only use it when you need to, alright?" he requested, to which you nodded.

Crane reached to behind his waist, pulling out a bulky looking radio that you hadn't noticed before. He lifted it up to his mouth before glancing at you and pausing.

"And for God's sake, keep your finger _off_ the trigger unless you're shooting at something." he groaned.

You shifted your finger away, embarrassed, as he pressed a button on the radio.

"Brecken, I couldn't find Zere inside. Just some woman, gonna help her get out of here." he spoke.

"Well, alright but Zere comes first, Crane." an English accented voice responded sternly.

"There's an underground level, maybe he's down there."

Crane nodded and replaced the radio to his waist. He walked toward a staircase at the end of the hallway Rais' gang member had come from, with you close behind.

"Who's Zere?" you asked, curious about the man that Crane was risking his life to save, and hoping he wouldn't think you were being too invasive.

"He's a scientist." Crane answered, trotting down the stairs.

"He's workin' on a cure for the virus."

Your eyes widened with surprise as you looked up to Crane. That was certainly a justifiable reason.

"There's really a cure?" you asked incredulously.

"Well, we don' know yet." Crane admitted.

"But there won't be if Rais kills him."

As you jogged down the steps, a new fire of determination sparked in your chest. Much as you just wanted to get away from Rais and his group, you couldn't in good conscience let him kill someone that was trying to create a cure for whatever was going on in here. Not without a fight, at least.

"Would he really kill someone trying to help?" you asked quietly, though based on what you had seen, you were fairly certain you already knew the answer.

"Course he would. He's a psychopath." Crane answered darkly.

He came to a stop at an open fire exit door, holding up a hand to you. You waited, squeezing the handle of your pistol with nerves. Crane pushed the door, allowing it to silently swing on its hinges before moving in with a crouched stance. From what you could see, it was an underground parking lot, very large. Cold looking, graffiti covered concrete walls were soaked in the darkness that Crane used to his advantage, becoming brighter as they extended to the right. One tense silence later, he beckoned you with a flick of his head and you followed, mimicking his stealthed pose and carrying the pistol close to your body. As soon as you passed the doorway you noticed the sudden chill in the air, looking toward the light source as you moved.

Wooden planks and numerous other materials were piled in random spots on the floor, bringing an occasional end to the otherwise empty grey concrete. Rusted barrels were strewn into corners, some standing upright while others lay motionless on their sides. It was clear that the lot traveled much deeper, but square columns and concrete guard rails removed anything but the immediate area from your view. One such column separated a menacing looking van, adorned with metal spikes and Rais' symbol, from a guard that stood with his back to you and Crane. Even so you could see the tip of the rifle that rested in his grip.

You came to a stop beside Crane, unwilling to even attempt a whisper for fear that the massive room would carry it off. Instead, you pointed to him and raised your eyebrows in question. Crane held up a hand again before folding all but two fingers. You frowned, unsure what he meant before voices sounding from the brighter part made you freeze, ready to raise your pistol.

"He is fucking crazy." came one voice, in hushed talk.

"I don't care if he's crazy or not." another one answered, a nervous chuckle in his words.

"I just don't want him pissed off at _me._ "

You relaxed considerably to find that the voices were not about the discovery of you two sneaking around, but rather between the first guard and a second who strolled out from the shadows. You looked back to Crane, who was intently observing the second guard as he made his way past the first guard and down a ramp further into the lot. With a few seconds to make sure he wouldn't return, Crane lay his rifle on the ground and shuffled toward the remaining guard in silence. You held a breath as he stood and wrapped his arms around the guard's neck in a sleeper hold, hoisting him back toward the shadows. Soon, he stopped resisting, falling limp as Crane dragged him far from the light as possible, past you and against a wall. You scooped up Crane's rifle and headed over, warily eyeing the guard.

"What if he wakes up?" you whispered, feeling safer to speak now that there was nobody close by.

In response, Crane, picked up the guard's rifle and emptied it, keeping the magazine for himself. He then looked back to you, almost questioningly so. You nodded and handed Crane his weapon before following him up to where the guard had originally been. Here, it was much brighter, and anyone looking would have seen you easily had it not been for the van to hide you. Crane checked over one side of the van while you followed suit with the other, both of you spotting the second guard posted a little ways past the bottom of the ramp, half leaning on a pallet of boxes in front of him. Before you could even ask Crane a thing you found him already away from the van, making a beeline for another darkened section of the lot that rested on the same level as you two. He disappeared behind a low wall, and feeling caught out you panicked and scuttled after him, colliding with his side once you rounded the wall's end.

Crane stumbled a step forward, his head snapping back to you in a vicious frown after he settled again.

"You didn't say we were moving." you hissed, feeling a little indignant.

"Pay attention." he responded plainly before shaking his head and moving forward to where another law wall formed a corner.

He half stood, looking over the wall to where the guard stood. Then, he turned to you and held out his rifle, which you took in confusion. Before you could question him however, he hoisted himself over the wall and dropped to the other side with surprising quietness for someone of his size. You moved up to the edge and hung the rifle over, where he grabbed it and lay it down on the ground. When he extended his other hand up to you, you glanced at the guard before dropping your pistol into his hand.Crane carried both weapons to a massive crate, using it to shield himself from the view of the guard. After judging the drop, you loosed a quick breath before pulling yourself into a seating position on the wall with your legs facing Crane. It wasn't a tall fall at all, but still you braced yourself before pushing yourself off and landing with all the grace of an elephant.

"Hey!" a voice called, leaving you frozen on the spot as the guard raised his gun toward you.

Crane was there near instantly, pushing the gun up and tackling the guard against the crates, beginning a series of grunts from both men. The rifle swung back and forth, with the man trying to push Crane off but refusing to let it go, and Crane using all of his strength to keep himself from an early death. You turned to the guns hidden by the crate and dived onto them, failing to pick up the pistol on your first try but latching onto the handle the second time and standing back up, fumbling until it rested correctly in your grip and aimed at the guard. Every instinct in you screamed to shoot, but you knew that with your trembling hand and the men's constant moving there was just as much chance you would hit Crane. Instead you ran closer, keeping the sights as best as you could on the guard.

"Just shoot!" Crane roared, turning his head away from the guard's attempt to impale his eyes.

Only feeling more panicked by the order, your breathing became rapid and shallow, but the opportunity at last came when Crane managed to secure a hand around the guard's neck, shoving his head as far back from himself as possible. You re-positioned the sights and fired, instantly feeling pain in your wrist from the recoil but managing to ignore it as you watched the guard's body turn limp and sag against the crates, with Crane releasing his grip.

There was a tense moments silence as you stared at the body, quite the gaping hole in its head as blood quickly pooled on the crates. Smoke snaked its way out of the pistol's barrel, disappearing into the air above you. Crane rested his hands on his hips as he regained his breath, at last turning to you after a few moments.

"What the-" he began, stopping to pant once more.

"..the fuck took you so long?"

You lowered the gun, your gaze lingering on the body for another few moments as you worked up an apology. Before you got the chance, however, more yelling sounded from deeper in the lot.

"Shit!" Crane cursed, ducking down and firmly shoving you back toward where his rifle lay.

You stood there, knowing the situation was urgent but unable to stop replaying what had just happened over in your head. You had never killed anyone before. Even when Crane's hands were planted on your shoulders it took you a moment to be able to look up to him.

"(Firstname), listen to me."

"I know it's hard the first time. I know. But (firstname), I need you to be _focused_ right now." he commanded, his hands giving your shoulders a squeeze.

The first spurts of gunfire made the two of you duck before Crane continued.

"It was him or us."

With that last sentence you finally broke from your stupor, new resolution empowering you. Crane was right. It wasn't as though you had killed someone innocent. That guard wouldn't have had any problem shooting you both given the chance.

You nodded resolutely, staring at Crane with conviction until he nodded back and picked up his rifle.

"Alright, just-. Stay behind cover and don't shoot unless you're sure you have an opportunity." he stated.

"Got it." you responded.

Crane moved around you, returning to the crates where the corpse lay and taking cover behind them. You shifted to the edge of the large box, peeking over the edge just in time to see three men take cover behind different columns further into the lot. Almost immediately one of them leaned out to fire, only to instantly drop to the ground with blood splattering the ground behind him, courtesy of Crane. Grateful to have the odds evened, you switched your gaze to another of the men. Enough of him stuck out to see, but you knew that any shots would be in vain until he stepped out. With your focus on that one, you jumped to have a bullet whizz past your ear and send splinters flying from the crate.

The other guard leaned out from his cover, half visible as he sprayed in your direction. You ducked and let the sounds ring out above you, clutching the pistol ready for the moment you had an opportunity. The firing stopped, and you allowed yourself two full seconds before rising again, the pistol poised in front of you. Twice you pulled the trigger, hissing at the recoil but managing to keep it reasonably straight and stopping to crouch when the guard ducked back behind cover. Similar sounds of a battle sounded from closer to Crane's side, but you restricted yourself to focusing on your own battle first.

When no more bullets littered the crate above you, you cautiously stood to find the guard trying to shift to closer cover. You brought the pistol up and fired, rewarded with a cry of pain as the guard's knee buckled and he fell to the ground. He struggled to crawl to his cover, but two more well placed shots reduced him to a lifeless heap on the concrete. You had to admit to yourself, with the new outlook there was a cold satisfaction to bringing an end to someone who worked for Rais. At the same time Crane's opponent fell into a slump, his gun skidding out across the ground.

Crane came around to you, nodding silently and leading the way toward the direction the guards had come from. At the end of the section was a single door, leading to a maintenance room of sorts judging by the no entry sign stuck to the wall beside it. He went in immediately, raising his gun to find the room empty and turning to a grey door on his left. When two tests of the handle proved it locked, he instead felled it with a strong kick, sending screws and hinges shooting off into the room. Worried about the noise you turned to look the way you had came, finding it empty as you listened to a conversation start between Crane and whoever was in the room.

"..but my research must not die with me!" came an aged voice, leading you to turn and watch as Crane guided an elderly black man from the room. He wore a clean blue sweatshirt, covered by a large white apron with assorted tools on the belt. You felt sad for him immediately, wondering how anyone could have that heart to harm such a sweet looking old man.

"You're not gonna die, Doc. But right now we have to get out of here, so please, lower your voice." Crane assured in hushed tones. You stepped aside and allowed Crane to lead the way, rubbing your thumb up and down the handle of your pistol as you listened.

"Oh, oh yes. All right. But understand- my research. It _must_ reach Dr. Camden! That's why I gave the packages to Jade." Dr. Zere mentioned, waiting as Crane leaned out of the doorway to look around.

"I know you said you would deliver them, but she was there, and time being of the essence-" Dr. Zere was cut short when pitch black enveloped the lot.

Immediately you had your pistol raised, but realizing it was useless in the dark you instead cautiously stepped forward as you heart rate picked up.

"Doc?" you heard Crane call, just before the lights came back on.

Instantly you found yourself surrounded by guards, aiming their rifles at both you and Crane by your side. One motioned to your pistol, forcing you to drop it.

"So," a familar voice began, making the two of you turn to find Rais, clutching a large knife in his hand.

"It takes no more than the false hope of rescue to loosen to good doctor's lips." he continued.

His head turned to a man holding Dr.Zere with a pistol to his head. You recognized him as the one who had blocked you from the doorway earlier.

"Hunt the Scorpion down. Spare no resource." he ordered.

"With pleasure," the large man responded.

"And these three, what shall we do with them?" he asked.

"You'll never find her!" Dr. Zere burst, looking to Rais. Brave as he was being, there was still fear evident in his eyes and voice.

"Never! And I'll never talk! You'll get nothing from me!" he claimed.

You flinched when Rais flicked the knife up to Zere's throat, holding a breath as he allowed the blade to rest against Zere's neck.

"I am less concerned with making you talk now, Doctor, than I am in preventing your escape." Rais stated lowly.

You loosed your breath to see him lower the knife, only to cry out when he viciously stabbed Zere's thigh instead.

"You sadistic fuck. He's an old man!" Crane growled, taking a step forward but relenting when the guards raised their rifles.

"Give the Doctor some first aid." Rais said dismissively, wiping his blade on his trousers.

The bulking man began to drag Zere off to the side as Rais spoke up again.

"And take Crane to the pit."

Before you could react one of the guards swung his rifle around and slammed the butt into Crane's face, sending him to the ground.

"Crane!" you yelped, kneeling down and leaning over to check him, but already seeing his eyes lose the fight to stay open.

"As for you, (firstname).." Rais trailed, casually strolling toward you.

You looked up to him and stood, fiery determination dismissing any fear within you.

"Well, I expected better from you." he said, his expression downcast as he stopped right in front of you.

Infuriated, you knew that no matter what Rais had in mind, it wouldn't be good, so you saw no difference in shooting some well earned spit on his face.

"Fuck you." you growled bitterly.

The guards raised their rifles, but Rais stopped them with a flat hand in the air. He then nodded, eyes closed against the saliva on his face as he wiped it away.

"Disappointing." he muttered.

He winded up before delivering a backhand to you with such ferocity that it sent you stumbling back. Dizzied, you fell with your face pressing against the cold concrete. You had no time to even attempt moving before you felt your body give in, a stilling darkness enveloping your vision as you fell unconscious.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed reading that as much as I did writing it!
> 
> So here's the sitch: I'm back to school on Monday, and as much as I would love to say I can update every weekend, I have my Leaving Cert coming up and i just cannot make any promises because in all likelihood they will not be fulfilled.
> 
> Ergo, I decided to make this one mega chapter as sort of compensation in case I take a while to update. Even if I don't, well it's nice to have. The only problem is that following chapters will most certainly not be 8000 words long, so the rest might seem pathetic by comparison. At least now I can feel like all the other dull-ish chapters are justified by this one. And believe it or not this is still sticking to my plan because this what was prepared for this chapter but I just managed to draw the everlasting life out of it. As I have written it for two days straight and through the night there is probably more errors than there are words in my previous chapters, so don't be afraid to mention any that bug you because I am certainly not up for reading through the entire thing again right now.  
> Until next time!


	7. Chapter 7

Mumbled voices brought you to life, different parts of your body firing up in succession as your conscious slowly pulled itself from darkness. The voices continued, calm but powerful as you noted first the unforgiving stiffness of what you lay on. You struggled against the disorientation of your body, eventually pulling your eyes open to welcome the dark sky that watched over you. The litter of stars above might have even been romantic if not overpowered by the cacophonous roaring of countless voices, echoing from wherever they sourced. With concentrated effort you managed to roll your body over, clenching your eyes as your body protested in pain after being lain on the hard surface it was. Once turned fully, you swivelled your head around to check your surroundings.

The area around looked unforgiving, ground littered with rock debris of varying sizes. It looked slick, as though it had rained only recently, the effect enhanced by a series of spotlights cast onto the ground. Surrounding buildings closed the area entirely into an octagonal shape, leaving you to wonder somewhere in the back of your mind how they even got in the multitude of shipping containers that lay about, a series of menacing looking spikes sticking out from their sides. Possibly by using the cranes that stood like sentinels over the area, though you weren't sure they would even work any more. On the whole, it appeared as some unfinished construction site, broken concrete pillars adding to the fact. The roaring continued, eventually pulling your gaze from the ground to find vast amounts of men collected on metal walkways above you that jutted from the buildings' sides. Some of their gazes were trained on you, a disturbing excitement in their eyes as they roared, the words too jumbled between them all to make sense of a single one. Other gazes, however, rested not quite on you, instead being just beyond. You doubled back, flicking your eyebrows after seeing a figure laying on the ground you only a little ways from where you awoke. He was sprawled on his back, closed eyes to the sky as yours had been.

"Crane.." you gasped, clenching your fists. Your heart seized up as you considered his death, along with your hope of getting away from Rais.

However, as if by your voice alone, Crane stirred, shooting excitement through your body. It dulled into despair again as one of Rais' men sauntered into view, rifle trained on him. You surged into action, forcing your body to break from its drowsiness as you began to push yourself up. A rough boot to your back sent you down, face smacking on the ground with a grunt of pain. It remained there, pinning you to the ground without the strength to fight it off. You could only lie helpless as you watched Rais' thug keep the rifle on a groaning Crane. More time passed without a shot, and you were caught between being relieved or increasingly stressed before he pushed himself up slowly, face momentarily slack before it honed in on what lay before him.

"Stand them up." came Rais' unmistakable voice.

The weight was lifted from your back while two other guards hoisted Crane to his feet by his underarms. A hand came messily to the top of your arm, trying unsuccessfully to force you up of its own accord. You shook it off with agitation, capable of standing by yourself, and ignored the aggravated glare from the guard as you turned to find Rais. Another guard stood behind him, joined by the three others as they backed up to form a square around Rais, each with their rifles raised in your direction.

"Oh Shit...Doc!" Crane yelled, causing you to look to him and follow his gaze after.

Behind Rais and his lackeys was a massive metal gate, clearly the only exit from this place.  _'The Pit._ _',_ you remembered Rais calling it. Stationed even higher still was a metal catwalk, with yellow painted guard railings that housed multiple figures between them, one of which being Dr.Zere, his hands bound as he looked down to the scene. The rest were more of Rais' men, a group that at this point seemed to be of infinite supply.

"You come to us like a snake in the grass." Rais began, approaching Crane with a determined gait.

"Here, in a city of lies,  _you_ are the biggest liar of all."

You tore your gaze from Zere, switching to Rais with an eyebrow perked. Whatever he was referring to, you would have liked to think that anything Rais said was delusional, but in fairness you didn't know anything about Crane, who's expression transformed, his eyebrows knitting together in a mixture of anger and confusion.

"What're you talking about?" he asked, his voice laden with frustration.

When Rais only took on a condescending smile in place of an answer, Crane stepped forward, making you freeze up before two of the guards blocked him.

"Answer me motherfucker!" he demanded, pushing against the guards.

"Crane!" you called, stepping toward him and placing a hand on his shoulder. No sense in letting him get you both killed over a few words.

His eyes snapped to you, registering your presence and looking you up and down, anger never leaving his gaze.

"Yes, lose control." Rais chuckled. At his words, the two guards relented, as did Crane, though he was still very much tense.

"That is what you Americans are so good at, after all." Rais continued, strolling around the furthest guard before slapping a hand on his shoulder.

He began to say more, but your attention was stolen as Crane stirred into action. He shoved off the closest guard, sending him back and losing your hand in the commotion before swinging his right fist into Rais' face. You tensed, too shocked to even reprimand him as the guard that had lifted you and the guard Rais had put his hand on shoved Crane back into a semi- crouch, their weapons aimed at him. There was a tense silence as you waited for them to shoot, and Rais brushed a hand over his face, his expression silently volatile. 

"Not bad." he muttered bitterly.

He snatched the rifle from the guard he had placed his hand on, roughly shoving him back. After a vicious kick to the head that left Crane on the ground, you watched with wide eyes as Rais turned and shot the two guards that had failed to keep Crane back. You watched them cry out, blood invading the airspace behind them before showering the ground below. They collapsed, quite dead as their bodies hit the filthy ground. You managed a brief glance at a struggling Crane before looking to Rais, fully expecting to see the rifle pointed at you. Instead, it sailed through the air back to its original holder before Rais turned and looked at you. He appeared to study you for a few moments, his eyes examining the length of your body in a way that left you wanting to cover yourself more than your clothes could. When he began stepping toward you you stole another glance at Crane; Out cold.

"Now, (firstname)." he sighed, sounding as though he had finished a long day at work rather than just killing two people.

"I know in the past you have been... _difficult_."  he continued, looking up to you with an attempt at a benevolent grin.

"But I am willing to look past that if you agree to join me now." he finished, extending an upturned hand to you and retaining his grin.

Dumbstruck by him seeming to believe that you might actually agree to such a thing, you spent a few moments simply staring at him. When the expression did not falter, you made no attempt to hide your disgust as you glossed your eyes over his outstretched hand, returning them to his face after.

"I would rather rot in hell."  you spat resolutely, glaring at him and managing to overpower your fear with righteousness.

His expression held, though you could see outstretched hand balling into a fist. You saw the punch coming, barely managing to duck under it and step back. You sank into a semi- defensive stance, clueless on what to do next. Rais was much larger than you, and you didn't believe hand on hand combat would bode well for you at all. You continued your backward march as Rais advanced, his shoulders squared in an intimidating stalk. Suddenly the deceased guards came to mind, and you set your sights on one of the rifles, cementing the decision in your mind instantly. You acknowledged it might have been panic, but consequences be damned you were determined to get one of those guns.

You burst into a sprint, making a direct beeline. Out of the corner of your eye, you saw the other guards raise their weapons.

"No. She is _mine_!" Rais roared.

You continued on, panting as you ran. Less than a second from the rifle, your foot snagged in a chunk of debris, sending you sprawling to the ground not more than a metre from the corpse that separated you and the rifle. With adrenaline powering every inch of your body you began a determined crawl, digging your fingers into the corpse's vest and boosting yourself over it. Some dull hope inside you flared up when you lay your eyes on the rifle, and you released some mix of a laugh of triumph and a grunt. Your fingers clenched around the handle, pulling it toward you, and your other hand had barely ghosted the handguard before you were being dragged back by your leg, off of the body. Even through your clothes the rough ground shredded against your skin, with the rifle making a series of scraping and smacking sounds as it bounced in your grip. The hand around your ankle held on painfully, but regardless you managed to propel yourself around, free hand hastily gripping the handguard as your eyes wildly tried to focus on a target. Before you were anywhere near ready to fire however, Rais snatched the weapon from your grip, tossing it aside as he fell into a crouch at your feet. The pure, unhindered fury in his eyes was something you had never seen in your life.

He gripped your leg again, trying to drag you further toward him. You resisted, pulling your leg back and eventually thinking to using your other to kick his chest, making him release his grip for you to push yourself away, eventually having to stop when you collided with the corpse. You scrambled to push yourself to your feet as Rais neared again, failing before he stepped over and straddled you. Instinctively you had your hands up at his face, desperately searching for any kind of purchase to give you an advantage. He barrelled through them, extending his owns hands and wrapping them around your throat. You continued your struggle, but already being out of breath you could instantly feel the lack of oxygen getting to you, forcing your brain to weaken and draining your consciousness. Rais' eyes bore into you with a black look, his face contorted to one of unbridled fury as his top lip curled in a snarl. Your hands scratched at his face in vain, weakening with each moment before you felt them fail completely as blackness swarmed your vision.

\---

"(Firstname.)" a distanced voice drifted into your hearing, stirring you.

Soon, a hand pressed into your shoulder, shaking you rapidly. You forced your eyes open, being greeted with a pair of jeans as your face was tilted parallel to the ground. A lift of your eyes revealed Crane, down to one knee as he roused you, concern on his features. His clothes were dirtied from being tossed to the ground time and time again, though that probably wasn't of big concern to him at that moment. His eyebrows lifted with some relief as your eyes connected, but still his face clung to the worry.

"(Firstname), you gotta get up. Now." he ordered.

In spite of your body's demand of more rest, it simply wasn't a choice you had the luxury to make. Stiffly you propped yourself to your elbows before finding your footing and pushing yourself up, Crane supporting you with a hand behind your shoulder. While your other senses powered up, you scanned the pit again, finding the only notable difference to be the absence of Rais and his men, even the corpses. Unfortunately, the rifles had been cleared out too. Out of memory you looked up to the metal catwalk Zere had been on, now finding Rais and his surviving men on it also, observing the two of you.

"Why are we still alive?" you wondered, not taking your eyes from Rais, who even from this distance seemed to be looking right at you.

"I'unno, but-" Crane's explanation was cut short by a series of clicks penetrating the air, followed by the whining of swinging hinges and an escalating in the volume of the roaring spectators.

Your head swiveled to the right in search of the source, while Crane's did the opposite. You soon found the shipping containers around the pit to have their doors open, with things obscured by the dark stopping you from looking right through. You peered closer at the shuffling collection of shadowy blobs, and even through the darkness you felt a set of eyes stare right back at you. First, a leg shot from the shade, wrapped in tattered cloth, with exposed flesh having long rotted to a lifeless husk. The rest of the body followed, a masculine figure clad in a dull yellow t-shirt. He was bald, thanks to the decaying, shriveled skin that clung to his head, and a rather sizable chunk had lost its way from his right cheek. Soulless eyes locked onto you, their owner doggedly shambling toward you from the safety of the container.

You tensed, half sinking into a defensive crouch and taking a step back to have your back collide with Crane's.

"Ah, fuck." he muttered under his breath. When you turned your head to him with the intent of warning him, you found his own pointed at a group of other creatures that staggered out of their own container.

"Cr-crane." you stammered, feeling your fear escalate with each set of footsteps that drew the creatures closer.

"Look, just-try to stay out of the way, alright? I've got this." he claimed, not sounding anywhere near as confident as he intended.

You wanted to agree, to let him deal with it all while you ran off to a corner and prayed you wouldn't die. The words were rolling from your tongue when something else stopped you. A small voice, but powerful, reprimanding you for your cowardice. Yes, the situation you found yourself in was terrifying. Yes, you would rather not have to risk dying, but sooner or later you were going to have to learn to survive. What gave you the right to leave it all up to Crane? A thought of watching him fail, being devoured by the creatures as you watched huddled in a corner, awaiting your own demise surfaced, and it spurred a new determination in you. If you were going to die anyway, then you reasoned that you'd be better off fighting to the end than shivering in a corner.

"No." you replied, feeling your voice tremble in spite of your determination and turning your head back to the first creature, who was nearing a concerning distance.

"I- I can do this." you stated, clenching your fists and loosing a quick shot of breath.

Rather than a response, you felt Crane's back leave yours as he stepped toward his own group of creatures. With shaky confidence you locked eyes with the one approaching you, marching sideways with intent to draw it away from Crane. You checked the ground every few steps as you rotated in a semi circle around the creature, determined not to let another trip be your downfall. It kept coming, its tattered clothing swaying against the force while it moved. Eventually, you came to the point where Crane was in view, some distance away as he fought. You paused and looked to the ground, sights instantly settling on a lead pipe among the debris, rusted to the point where it might have been painted brown without much difference. You snatched it up, praying there were no cuts on your hand to give you an unneeded dose of infection.

You held the pipe out above your head, planting your feet and waiting for the creature to come close enough for a hit. Your free hand was raised cautiously in front of you, prepared for the worst. Only when you clenched it for a moment did you realize how clammy your own skin was, and prayed that it wouldn't impede your ability to hold your weapon. The creature raised its arms as it came, reaching out in want, with spindly hands groping the air between you. You absently noted that its left middle finger was missing. When it was close enough that you could hear its rasping breaths, you lifted the pipe a tad higher before bringing it back down with a ferocious grunt. It connected to the side of the creature's skull with a sickening crack and a twang of pain from your wrist jerking in force. The creature staggered, being made to hunch lopsidedly from the hit while you recovered for another swing. It struggled to upright itself, and you took the opportunity to bring the pipe down again, blood flicking out onto your arm as the creature collapsed to the ground. With a sense of triumph you watched it fall still, only to continue squirming again. Muttering a curse you began to raise the pipe, only to have your eyes snag on it halfway. It was severely dented, red coating the area where the metal took a sudden turn. You considered looking for a new one, but the stirring body in front of you told you there wasn't time, so instead you brought it up again, cracking it against the creature's skull. The hit lacked any of the shuddering force the others had had, thanks to the pipe snapping at the dent and sending the disconnected chunk of lead skittering away from you. You watched in despair as the biter groaned and attempted to lift itself again. Looking back to the remains of the pipe in hand, you had an idea when seeing the jagged ends of lead that were left behind.

Rotating the pipe to hold it lengthwise, you thrust the sharp ends down onto the creature's already weakened skull. It broke through with a chilling crack and a generous spurt of blood that clung to your shoes, bringing any sign of life within the creature to an abrupt end. You panted, looking down at the corpse and letting your hands fall by your side, acknowledging the jeers of discontent from the crowd above you. Much as a part of you wanted to feel regret or sadness at your actions, you instead only felt a spur of triumphant determination that was cut short by a roar of effort from Crane.

Your head rose, eyes taking in the scene. Crane backed away as two of the creatures swarmed him at once, only for him to suddenly shoulder one and send it tumbling over the fallen body of another. After, he swung whatever it was in his hand at the remaining one, sending streaks of blood to the ground and making it stumble. He looked as though he could have handled it, if not for the unseen female creature stalking up behind him.

You cursed and broke into a sprint, stepping over the corpse in front of you and stumbling when your leg hit the pipe, but managing to keep your balance. The creature that was flanking Crane had come from the container that you had first sighted, and you cursed yourself for having forgotten there were more to deal with. A brief look to said container showed a collection of more shambling out, though _they_ were far enough away that you could give your entire focus to Crane's predicament. Your footsteps pounded on the concrete, bringing you closer with each lung burning step you took. The creature extended her arms toward Crane's unsuspecting back, and the swinging of his weapon brought a sudden reminder that you were carrying nothing of the sort. Still you persisted, recognizing that were was no time for second guessing, even with your brain noting on an assortment of potential weaponry that was in your path. Her hands connected with Crane's back, jerking him away from his target and honing her jaw in for his neck. At the last moment you dove in, working out of instinct to snake one arm around the creature's neck and connect your hands at her shoulder. One tug later her grip still held, and you took a half step back to pull again, only to have Crane jerk his shoulders back in an attempt to push off the creature. Between your unchecked footfall and her staggering, you both collapsed backward, yelping as your back whacked on the concrete and the woman's weight pressed onto your front. One way or another, your grip had held through the fall, and you hoisted your arm up right under her chin to stop her biting it. Your mind shot through a multitude of ways to get out of your situation, and you came to wonder if these things could actually be choked into unconsciousness. If not, then there was no point wasting your time lying there.

Your attention fell back to the container she had come from, and upon seeing the mass of angry figures making their way to you, you knew that you were going to have to do something fast. Innumerable plans surged your thoughts at once, before settling on one; Perhaps if you managed to roll over you could pin her down and find something to hit her with. With a grunt, you began rocking your shoulders, trying to build up the force while the creature's jaw snapped uselessly, its fingers scratching your arm. Your desperation increased as you watched the horde draw closer in your peripheral vision, and with a few more moments you went for it, using your foot to propel yourself much as it could. It was enough to roll to your side, along with the creature, but that was it. She hit the ground like a bag of bricks, the sudden force making your choking arm lose its grip and pinning the other underneath her. Fast as you were able to went to rejoin your hands, prevented as the creature moved with unprecedented speed, viciously grasping your arm under her. Her eroded teeth zoned in on your flesh, and a frantic punch from your free hand seemed to faze her little. Being able to think of nothing else you shoved the hand under her jaw, pushing upward at a difficult angle to force her mouth closed. Thanks to your position, you could feel your arm quickly drain of strength, and those teeth made a reappearance. Then her entire body fell slack as a sturdy length of rebar impaled her brain, splashing blood onto your arm.

You let your arm fall limp, watching wide eyed as the corpse went with it. Even dead, their eyes seemed no different than when they were shambling toward you. The rebar sticking through her skull stopped her head turning completely, instead propping it up to look in the other direction. Then, her entire body flew sideways as Crane tossed it aside, extending a hand down to you. You took it and were lifted easily, letting out a sigh of relief.

"You good?" he asked, stooping somewhat to get on eye level with you and switching his gaze between your eyes.

You nodded and followed him when he looked to the side, observing the horde slowly making its way toward you both.

"Can we split them up?" you asked. There was no way you could take them all on at once.

"Nah, there's too many." he groaned.

For a split second, you dared take your eyes from the situation and throw them up to the platform again. Rais stood, hands hidden behind his back as he watched. His expression was difficult to make out, though you were certain there was no conern for your well being in it.

"(Firstname), I have a plan." Crane claimed, bringing back your focus.

"But I need you to trust me."

You studied him, thinking on it. His own gaze was still cast at the group of creatures, focused and determined. You hardly knew this man, and yet you'd been through so much together that you felt already like you could trust him.

"Well, there's no one else to trust." you responded dryly.

Crane nodded and lifted an arm across you to point at a small red canister, toppled over beside one of the concrete pillars that stood in the pit. Your eyes dragged across the dirt and blood flecked on Crane's arm before focusing on the canister.

"I need you to get that into the group."

You were confused, but being that you had no plan yourself there wasn't much time to question it. You ran over wordlessly and grabbed the container, puffing a breath as you underestimated the weight. As soon as it was cradled in your arms, you realized that there was no hope of you just chucking it amidst the group. You would be lucky to manage two feet. It suddenly dawned on you why Crane had asked for your trust, and you looked back to him, your eyebrows raised.

"Trust me!" he called, not even sparing a look at you.

He drew something from his hip, seemingly a knife of sorts, holding it in his hand as you turned to the group again and let out a stressed breath. They had in their entirety switched focus to you, rasping and lopsided in their pursuit. You scanned the path between you, finding it clear of obstacles before you forced your legs to move forward, awkwardly jogging with the weight of the canister inhibiting you. It felt insane, running straight for the creatures that extended their arms in anticipation, their torn breathing elevating into feral growls. Too many eyes to count in your haste honed in on you, making you their sole target. Once you came just barely out of arm's reach of the closest creature, you let the canister drop, a sort of half toss that sent it crashing into the shins of said creature and brought it to the ground. Somewhere, you found a shaky smile of accomplishment and stuck it on, turning to run back away from the group. You watched as Crane wound up his arm and let the knife fly, unable to see it but acknowledging it whizzing past you. After a short distance the ground in front of you came alive with bursts of dust and you jolted to a stop, shrinking back as bullets peppered it again and again. Heart seizing up in panic, you checked the walkway to find Rais pointing a rifle in your direction. But you knew that he wasn't aiming for you, or you would already be dead.

"(Firstname)!" Crane roared, darting toward you.

The bullets stopped and you barely had time to register the high pitched whining behind you before Crane seized your shoulder and threw you forward to the ground. It hurt to collide with the concrete the way you did, but the feeling was overtaken by Crane's body falling onto you.

One of his arms came into view, pressed as flat against the ground as it could be. It was near hairless, and the glove on it was so filthied that you weren't even certain what the original colour was supposed to be. You could feel the immense warmth across your back, along with his exhausted breath flowing down the side of your neck. Then, the whining stopped and your ears stung from the thunderous explosion that sourced from behind you both. Fragments of ground scattered about you, clacking like marbles and pelting the backs of your legs in an assault. A naked foot, devoid of any owner finished the barrage by plopping just a ways away from you, making you grimace. Another brief moment passed before Rais' voice carried down to you both, silencing the roaring of his men and carrying even through the faint ringing in your ears.

"Words of your feats here will spread. Such a shame you will be corpses by then."

Crane's weight lifted from you, and you pushed yourself up soon as you were able, looking at him. You noted to yourself that you were going to have to thank Crane for what he did.

"Is this your feeble attempt at controlling your own destiny, Crane? Too little, too late, I fear." Rais called.

Though you hadn't a clue what Rais was referring to, you saw Crane's jaw lock in annoyance as he looked up to him.

"You see Crane, you help her because she is _weak_. Just as you are."

This time it was your turn to get annoyed, clenching your fist as you looked up to Rais.

"Asshole." you muttered. A pointless thing to say, but it felt necessary nonetheless.

"But, I am not oblivious to talent when I come across it." he continued, extending a hand to hide side to have an object placed in it. He then dropped it from the edge of the walkway, allowing it to fall into the arena. With a closer look, it appeared a machete of sorts.

"Here. Rewards for your troubles."

A mechanical whirr drew both yours and Crane's attention upward to see one of the cranes above rotating. Apparently you had been wrong to assume they didn't work any more.

Another shipping container dangled from its end, bright yellow with a present bow spray painted to the side. The beam of a spotlight flew up to meet it, illuminating its journey until the crane stopped abruptly, making the container sway with momentum.

"You may decide between you who gets what." Rais' voice stated.

With that, one side of the container broke free, making the entire thing swing wildly until it collided with some of the catwalks surrounding the pit. Whether there had been men on those catwalks, now demolished, you truly didn't care. And you suspected Rais didn't either. The rest of the container broke free, coming crashing down into the pit with a deafening crash and raising a storm of dust around it that blocked the container from view briefly. The cheering of Rais' men started up again as the doors of the container quite literally flew off, carelessly cast aside as a behemoth like figure charged out, giving a guttural roar that shook you inside.

Rather than stop with the doors, the beast continued its charge, one arm raised to shield itself as it ran straight for the two of you.

"Holy fuck." you managed, turning to Crane and finding him halfway to the machete in full sprint.

You flinched at realizing that you were the only target of the beast, feeling the ground shudder beneath you as its footfalls neared. It seemed to have no intent of slowing down, and you barely managed to leap in Crane's direction, narrowly avoiding a hit. You crashed to the ground, arms under you as you watched the beast at last slow, albeit with apparent difficulty, and turn to you. Only that it was stopped you could get a good look at it.

It was truly gargantuan, easily twice your height and with grotesquely sized muscles to suit. Segments of thick, black clothing you identified as riot gear still clung one way or another to its pearl coloured skin, with a full helmet to boot. Its face, though contorted to one of daunting rage, was not all that different to any other creature you had seen so far; Lifeless eyes and sunken features. While you looked on, one though continued to surge through your mind on a loop.

How the hell were you supposed to beat this thing?

It raised an arm across its front again in preparation for a charge, and your eyes snapped to the woman Crane had put down earlier, rebar still protruding from her skull. You knew that retrieving it wasn't going to be faster than this thing could come at you, so instead you resolved to lead it away first.

The beast began its attack with a bellow, trembling the ground again as it neared. With a series of quick breaths to psych yourself, you bounced your knees rigidly, coming as close as you would have liked to cut it before diving away again. The heavy footsteps continued off behind as you scrambled to your feet and made a beeline for the rebar. A cautious glance backward revealed the beast as having switched its focus on Crane, who stood at the ready with machete in hand. Grateful for your partner you tugged at the rebar, making the corpse's head flail stubbornly rather than release it. One foot against the head later, your pull rewarded you with a thick squelch as the metal loosened itself from its lodging. It was heavier than you had anticipated, but manageable, and you turned to scan the scene, eyes widening as you instantly spotted a glaring weakness; The beast's back was shiny with raw, exposed flesh that seeped blood out onto its uniform.

"Crane!" you cried, tightening your grip.

Your scream seemed to go unnoticed, and you grunted with annoyance before beginning your sprint toward them.

"Craaane!" you tried again, this time earning a look.

You freed one hand from the rebar, thrusting it out to point.

"The back! Hit the back!" you ordered.

A comprehensive nod later, Crane looked back to his adversary, who prepared for another charge. You neared, doing what felt most appropriate and hoisting the rebar up to your shoulder like a pole jumper. Fear featured in your approach, taunting each footstep, but still you persisted, refusing to give in. Less than a few feet from your target you thrust the rebar out, letting out a valiant cry. It sank in to the right of where you assumed the beasts spine would be, continuing until a quarter was embedded deep.

The beast stopped moving, and you let go of the rebar, stepping back with bated breathing. You felt triumph surge through you, watching the beast's back dip to the side.

"(Firstname)!" Crane yelled, his voice thick with warning.

The beast swung round again, its arm speeding toward you like a tree trunk and leaving no window for any defence. The breath rapidly left your body as you were struck, lifting you off of your feet. For a second there was nothing but howling in your ears and your hair whipping wildly as you flew, brought to an end when you collided with the ground, rolling rapidly. Numerous parts of your body protested the motion in pain, being whacked mercilessly against concrete time and time again. Eventually you came to a stop on your back, feeling your chest scream in agony as you turned to cough up, despite only wanting air. Tears fogged your vision as Empty retches interrupted the slivers of air you managed, reminding you that you hadn't eaten anything for a long time. With one last hitch in breath your body suddenly realigned itself, allowing a plentiful suck of air and returning your breathing pattern to normal.

You brought your knees up, propping yourself on one arm and using the cleaner parts of your other to wipe off your tears. Once your eyes cleared you looked back to Crane, who was heeding your advice by leading the beast around before applying a series of attacks to its back. You stood, giving your body a mental scan before starting to near again, wary about the various pains throughout your limbs but no less determined to help. Evidently, it was not needed as the beast collapsed to its knees, releasing one last, weakened groan before the rest of its body followed suit. You came up beside a panting Crane, who shared a look with you, his chest heaving as he gave a nod.

"You have provided some quality entertainment for my men." Rais called down to you both.

"Too bad it's a one time performance."

You and Crane looked up to find the metal walkway lowering. Exhausted as you were, you tried to prepare yourself for more confrontation, balling up your hands by your side.

"I must admit, (firstname), I am impressed by your capability."

Your nails dug into your palms as you listened.

"But  _you_ , Crane. Well. The GRE selects its operatives well, do they not?"

A pang of recognition fired through your brain, though in your current situation you suppressed it for a later time. Crane muttered something before the walkway came to a stop, a section of the guard rail swinging down on a hinge before Rais and two armed guards hopped off. The latter two instantly had their rifles trained on you and Crane.

"Drop the weapon." Rais ordered, clasping his hands behind his back as he sauntered over.

To your gratitude Crane complied without protest, letting the machete clang against the ground.

"Chaos, Crane. Chaos is the one true order of things." Rais proclaimed, bringing his hands back into view. One held the radio that you had seen on Crane the first time you met.

"To pretend otherwise is the sheerest folly. Allow me to demonstrate."

He raised the radio and brought it to life, receiving an electronic chirp.

"Basaam, can you hear me?" he spoke into the radio.

"Loud and clear." came the response.

"Publish the file." Rais ordered resolutely, making Crane visibly tense up.

"Right away Sir."

There was a pause before the radio sounded again.

"It is done."

"You maniac!" Crane cried suddenly, making you flinch and stare at him.

"You just doomed thousands of innocent people! That's what you get with your fucking chaos!"

You looked between the two of them, absolutely lost on how to react, considering you had no clue on what they were talking about.

"You don't know what was in that file, do you, Crane? You only prove my point for me. The GRE plans to  _weaponize_ the virus, not cure it." Rais claimed.

Again those initials sounded familiar to you. You were certain that you had heard them in the course of your research for your case, but you just couldn't pin them to anything else.

Rais slowly stepped forward as if to emphasise his point as he spoke.

"They're only interested in profit. Not saving lives. By following their rules, you have become their trained monkey."

"Pathetic." he spat before turning and beginning to make his way toward the walkway.

"All right. Kill them."

You hardly had time to even freeze before Crane swung at the guard closest him, sending his gun off course. You watched the other raise his own gun before your body seemed to move of its own accord, barrelling into him with your shoulder and sending his arms upward. He staggered away from you, starting to reorientate himself before Crane appeared, ruthlessly slicing the guard's leg with the machete he had dropped and painting the ground with blood.

Rais whipped round, using one hand to draw a pistol, and then all too suddenly the hand was sailing through the air, separated from its arm by the machete's steel.

As Rais fell to the ground in agony, Crane scooped up the pistol, using it to pepper one last guard on the walkway with bullets as he moved toward the walkway. You followed, eyes diligently checking for more enemies and waiting or Crane to turn and finish off Rais, but when he ditched the gun to climb the walkway you followed without protest.

Crane made it up the hanging guard rail with ease, disappearing over the edge as you ran to catch up. You could hear him speak to Zere as you grabbed onto the railing, but between your heartbeat in your ears and your grunting the words were lost to you. With burning muscles you pulled yourself onto the metal, planting your feet on the railing and using it to push yourself up. Your heart sank to see Zere, dead, a knife embedded deep in his chest as he sat propped against the railing.

"You. Give me the torch." you heard Rais demand, turning once you were fully stood to see him holding a burning torch in the one hand he had left. Your eyes widened with horror as he thrust the flame onto his severed arm, staggering and roaring through the pain.

"What are you swine waiting for?!" he yelled.

"Shoot them!"

Crane crouched and muttered something to Zere before turning to you, still crouched, and extending interlocked hands, palms up. When you looked at him helplessly he jerked his head toward the metal gate.

"Come on! Go!" he shouted.

You planted your foot in his hands, reaching for the top of gate and gasping in surprise when he pushed you with unexpected force, sending you over with unplanned speed. You tried to cling to the gate to save face, but only one remained when they other slipped off from sweat. You swung like a marionette, the momentum continuing until your other hand came off too. Miraculously, you managed to land with a crouch and narrowly avoiding sprawling face first into the dirt as Crane heavily landed beside you.

"Come on!" he repeated, giving your shoulder a hearty smack that set you in motion.

For a second, you wondered why you even needed to run any more, but one yell later and a hail of bullets cast all doubts aside. Your lungs and muscles cried out in protest, insisting you take a break, but with no such option in store you continued, watching as Crane overtook you. You followed his path, skipping over random building materials and thanking every god you could think of that the bullets only littered the ground around you, and not your body.

Crane led you up a ramp that brought you to another walkway requiring you to pull yourself up. Surprising yourself, you vaulted up the edge with reasonable ease, and watched as Crane cast a split second glance back to ensure you hadn't been caught up. Another ramp came up to meet you, and you released an involuntary groan of effort when your leg muscles faced the sudden incline change. The ramp brought you to the very top of the building, giving you a view of the rising sun as you followed Crane through a series of large concrete pipes. By this point, you were running on the absolute last reserves of energy, extremely grateful when Crane veered off to the right and made a beeline for an empty door frame that would bring you into the shelter of a building. He went through, but rather than continue forward, he went straight down, with you too exhausted to register it before you followed.

Walls of an elevator shaft flew past your view, and you would have screamed had there been anything left in you to do so. Suddenly, your body was engulfed in cold as you plunged into water, sinking down to its filthy depths. You weakly struggled to swim, feeling your exhausted muscles surrender to the pressure of the liquid, and with your lack of breath, you wouldn't have lasted ten seconds longer without Crane's hands hooking under your armpits and hoisting you out.

He lay you onto a concrete floor as you spluttered out water and collapsed to your back, too drained to even  _want_ to move. Your clothes were saturated and your hair clung to your skin as you looked up at Crane's figure, crouched over you. All you wanted was to close your eyes and rest for a moment, but you knew that if you even attempted it you would go under. You just couldn't understand how Crane had run all this way and wasn't as close to passing out as you felt. He sighed profusely before wiping a hand down his face.

"Fuck.. I think we're safe." he stated.

You had no energy to attempt any kind of response, so simply remained staring up at him.

"Are you good? Can you move?"

The few seconds that passed were only occupied by your panting, making Crane glance toward a single doorway that seemed to lead into an underground carpark.

"I'll take that as a no."

He looked over you, his expression concerned before he let out another sigh.

"Well, we can't stay here. C'mon."

He gently snaked an arm under your back, hoisting you into a semi sitting position before draping your arm over his shoulder. He then stood, bringing you up with him. Your energy was very slowly on the return, an you muscles still felt like pure fire, but you managed to keep yourself standing with Crane's support. As you leaned into him, you were greeted with the mixing odours of perspiration and dirt, though you were in no state yourself to start judging for such a thing.

"Nice and easy." he said tenderly, guiding you with slow steps toward the doorway.

It led you into a darkened car park, very similar to Rais' but lacking the vehicles or armed guards. Crane continued to lead you, and though you wished you could be less of a burden, your body was only starting to come back to life again.

When a collection of ragged growls sounded from the darker parts of the lot, yours and Crane's heads whipped around to see a multitude of creatures shambling toward you.

"Fuck.." Crane muttered, picking up the pace a little.

Still more appeared, emerging from the shade in random patterns and earning another curse from Crane. He shifted speed again only to have you trip over your own feet and nearly bring you both down.

"God damnit." he growled, and before you could apologize, he stooped low. You yelped as a pressure against your knees brought your feet from the ground, expecting to fall into the hands of a hungry creature, but instead you found yourself looking up at Crane as he carried you, one arm supporting your legs while the other remained around your back. His face was determined as he graduated into a steady jog, making you bounce with each step.

"Crane.." you managed, your voice barely above a whisper.

Your eyelids twitched, and more than once you had to force them open without even realizing you had closed them. The last thing you remembered of that lot was the exit bouncing toward you before exhaustion claimed you.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoops, another long chapter!
> 
> I really, honestly started out with like 'ok claireton, 2k words max, don't make 3k+ chapters a habit cuz you cant always deliver on that.' But then I started writing, and every time I got somewhere that felt like a suitable end, I had so much more ready in my mind and I was like 'I can neither wait a week to write that nor make someone wait for a week to read on from this point.' so I just kept going, but i guess it had to end eventually and this is where my plan originally stopped anyway so I guess it kind of worked out. Again, if you see any errors let me know blablah bye.
> 
> oh also i'm pretty sure canisters dont blow up when a throwing knife hits them but they do in the game and i wanted to write cool exploshunz so shush


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Sorry this is late, but read on and see the end notes below!

Your eyes cracked open, groggily fighting back the darkness in your vision to welcome a badly lit apartment. After a brief period of recuperation you shot up, eyes darting around the room.

The only lighting was a few candles, trying their hardest to brighten the room in spite of the nighttime darkness that fought back. The windows had been boarded up, taking away any view of the outside world, though that was probably for the best. An ugly green carpet covered the floor in its entirety, underlining the various chests of drawers and the single wardrobe that were present, as well as the battered couch that you lay on yourself. The two wooden doors on your left were shut tight, while one to your right seemed to be composed of a metal of sorts.

You eased yourself up, welcomed to a series of aches in your muscles and a sharp pain in your stomach that demanded food. After standing, your mind wandered back to the last thing you remembered before passing out; Crane carrying you through a lot of the infected. Where was he? With the uncertainty on the rise, fear joined it, and you began to wonder if he had just left you here. Would he do that? Where even were you?

You chewed your lip, suddenly intimidated by the darkness. A quick look around brought your gaze to a chunky lamp on a coffee stand beside the couch. It was a little heavy to use efficiently, and being only porcelain it would likely break in one hit, but it was also the closest thing to you that was remotely viable as a weapon. Seconds later had your hands on its power cable, tugging it out of the wall and hoisting up the lamp itself in front of you. As you eased forward, you watched the candles' light flicker against the walls and furniture, shadows dancing back and forth as the flames slid around their wicks. The fact that it made the scene look straight out of a horror movie did absolutely no favours in calming your nerves.

"Crane?" you whispered, not feeling comfortable with making any loud noises.

You flinched at the sudden sound emerging from the second door to your left; A splash, and then the sound of some type of liquid trickling back down to the well it came from. With the lamp raised higher you regarded the door, so plain and ordinary yet so intimidating, hiding whatever lay beyond from view. The sound came again, exactly the same as it was before, and you turned to fully face the door, sinking yourself into a defensive stance of sorts. The sound wasn't exactly sinister, but fear preyed on your mind and conjured disturbing images that left your heart quivering.

You approached, stopping only arms length from the door and assessing your situation. Whatever was in there, you needed to get the drop on it if you were going to win. Going at one of those infected with an easily breakable weapon simply had no chance if they saw you coming. You shuffled the lamp to one hand with difficulty and let the other go to the door handle, grasping it tightly before you stopped and considered your plan. Would you have time to swing the lamp after pulling open the door? It was too awkward to do with one hand effectively, and by the time you had both hands on it again it could be too late. Perhaps it would be better to throw it and pick up one of the shards while they were recovering.

One more splash, and without waiting for the following trickle you yanked the door open, the lamp already leaving your grip even as you recognized Crane standing there, wide eyed.

He stood, slightly bent forward over the small sink of the bathroom he was in and illuminated by a single candle beside a medicine cabinet. His hand, supporting a sopping cloth against his collarbone, trickled through with water that landed back in the pool of water gathered in the sink. The rest of his bare chest was slick with the water, reflecting the bouncing candle light that highlighted the various nicks and other signs of damage on his skin. A worn, though still sharp looking machete dangled from his trousers. Then, it all sank downward as he narrowly avoided being struck in the face by your flying weapon, which instead shattered on the wall behind him.

"Woah, woah!" he yelled, turning toward you and raising his free hand, palm open. His other squeezed the cloth and spilled water all over the floor.

Your hands shot up to your mouth, eyes widened.

"You try'na fuckin' kill me?!"

"I thought you were one of the infected!" you replied through your hands, your voice getting frantic as embarrassment and regret clashed in you.

"Why would there be-" he started, before catching himself and shutting his eyes in a frown, his jaw locked.

A profuse sigh escaped through his nose while he turned to the sink again.

"Look, would'ya just go sit down or something? I am _not_ in the mood for any bullshit right now."

You nodded and glanced at the remnants of the lamp on the floor. Ultimately you decided it best to just leave them be and quickly backed out, swinging the door most of the way closed as you shuffled back to the main room. Though your face was hot with embarrassment an aggravated stomach growl ordered you to stop feeling sorry for yourself and instead seek out some nourishment, which you eagerly complied to. The sounds of splashing water started up again as you moved over to one of the chests of drawers in the room, sliding open the topmost drawer. With nothing to be seen inside but a warped corkscrew, you sighed and continued down the rest of the drawers, coming across nothing else but dust.

You approached the sole wardrobe of the room, a tall oak thing with shiny black handles. The doors swung open easily and introduced you to a series of empty hangers, obstructed from the light of the candles in the room. Even so you could see they were empty, and you had the doors half closed, head hung with another sigh before a shoebox at the end of the wardrobe caught your eye, barely even visible for the darkness it was shrouded in. It was heavy enough to have something small in it, and you lifted the cover off while turning toward the light to find nothing but a blanket of the thin, crunchy paper that came with new pairs of shoes. With a groan of frustration you pulled at the paper, intending to burn it on one of the candles as vengeance for betraying you, but it held surprising weight, and one hearty tug sent two cylindrical objects spilling out from under onto the floor.

The box dropped to the floor, emptied, as you focused in on the separated contents instead, lifting them from the floor. It took some closer peering, but you eventually identified them as two unopened packs of cookies; Double Chocolate and Ginger Nut. Certainly not an ideal meal, but at that moment you couldn't have cared less as you thanked your lucky stars for them.

"Whadd'ya got there?" Crane's voice sounded.

You turned your head toward the bathroom to see him approach, his eyebrows perked in curiosity. As he walked, he held his shirt out in front of him before slipping his arms through and shrugging it on to his shoulders. In spite of everything, you couldn't stop yourself glancing at his exposed stomach while he began buttoning up. It was toned, with ghost lines that ran along his abdomen working with the flickering light to cast it in a flattering shade. You barely snatched a peek at his pecs before stopping and forcing yourself to look up back into his eyes. You knew that kind of thinking was wildly out of place at a time like this, but at the same time, you were only human.

"Oh- I uh, I just found them." you answered, turning the rest of your body to face him and holding the packets a little ways away from you.

He stopped just arm's length from you, hiking up his sleeves as his eyes danced between the two packets. You tried to tell yourself that you were doing the same, but you kept finding yourself back at his shirt. It had little circular dark patches, as though he had tried in vain to scrub away some of the dirt. One hand came to rest on the Double Chocolate pack before lifting it from your grasp.

"Guess I could take this as compensation for trying to murder me." he sighed.

You raised your head, ready to contradict him, but when you met a light smirk that reached Crane's eyes you relented, watching him turn toward the couch you had first awoke on.

"Can't remember the last time I had one o' these." he mumbled, tearing open the pack as he walked.

He unhooked his machete from his waist, letting it drop onto the couch beside him before he sat and dug in.

You grinned, watching him devour the biscuits as you twirled the remaining pack between your hands. Another discontent growl from your gut made you move over and take a seat beside him, forcing open your own packet.

"These are so damn good." Crane murmured through a mouth half full.

You smiled, slipping a ginger biscuit into your mouth. For that moment, everything seemed like it was normal. Even sitting in the semi darkness, listening to the unreserved crunching beside you and appeasing your deprived stomach, it felt as though you might have been back home. For a pleasant few seconds your mind pushed back everything that had happened to you in the past few days, allowing you to feel almost serene, but the moment ended when you drifted back to your time with Rais. A sharp shiver worked its way up your spine as you considered what might have happened to you had Crane not showed up. Would you be dead by now? Or worse? You knew one thing that most definitely would have happened.

It occurred to you that not only had you forgotten to thank Crane yet, but rather had chucked an appliance at him and not even apologized. If you were going to part ways as planned, then you couldn't in good conscience let such things go unspoken. About halfway through your packet you stopped, running your tongue around your mouth before speaking.

"Hey, Crane?"

The munching stopped and you looked to Crane as he swallowed then turned to you, his eyebrows raised expectantly. You tried to formulate the best way to say what was on your mind, but eventually just decided to be blunt with it.

"Thank you." you said.

"For saving me from Rais." you added, feeling for whatever reason that he might think you were talking about something else.

Crane's gaze lingered on you for a moment before he nodded, the skin around his mouth bulging as he cleaned off his teeth before replying.

"Hey, it's no problem."

"Though I'd rather not be paid back by having lamps thrown at me."

You rolled your eyes, focusing on the floor again forcing another biscuit through your smiling lips. You still didn't know Crane all too well yet, but from what you had experienced thus far he seemed a good person. It was nice to have some humour in spite of the circumstances. If you were really going to be entirely on your own after leaving him, then you supposed you may as well savour every bit of human interaction you could get until the time came. The food appeased your stomach, though you knew that it would take more than a few measly biscuits to make up for all the time you had gone without eating anything.

"Why'd you join Rais in the first place?"

You turned back to Crane, prevented from correcting him immediately by a mass of crumbs in your mouth before forcing them down.

"I mean, the guy's clearly a fuckin' psychopath, just don't understand why you wou-" he continued.

"I didn't choose to." you cut off, feeling a tad indignant.

When Crane's eyes flashed with something bordering on concern you continued.

"Why the hell _would_ I choose to?" you asserted.

In spite of your strained defence, however, you knew it to be a little hypocritical. At the time, you couldn't have known any better and certainly would have flocked to the faux safety of Rais. Not that Crane had to know that. He continued to watch you without answer, and so you just continued.

"I'm a journalist. I was flying over Harran for some evidence an-"

"Hold on, evidence for what?" Crane interrupted.

Crane's tone alone brought a dramatic shift from a calm attitude to feeling as though you were being interrogated, and you blinked, taken somewhat aback. His eyes seemed to be studying yours, nearly challenging you without even looking aggravated.

"I- uh, just for a story." you responded, switching your gaze downward and rubbing your thumbs along the packet.

"On what, exactly?" Crane dogged. Now you could hear that he was trying to sound nonchalant, but you weren't entirely convinced.

"The virus, Crane. What else?" you replied.

From your peripheral vision you saw Crane linger on you for a moment before nodding and turning his head toward the mostly empty packet in his hands. Satisfied as he seemed to be however, you weren't. There was obviously a reason for Crane's change in attitude, and you wanted to know it. Years on the job had only nurtured your curiosity.

"Why does it matter so much?" you asked, raising your head again to look at Crane.

"Just interested in what the media's saying about Harran." he answered, not lifting his eyes from his packet and instead going to work on another cookie.

You did the same, working through it slowly while you tried to think of a way to get what you wanted out of Crane. What he had said clearly wasn't the answer, and the fact that he had lied only made you all the more impatient for an answer.

"Personal reasons?" you asked, making your own attempt at posing it like a casual question.

"Wha-no, look I already told you. Can you drop it?" Crane requested, somewhat grouchily.

He scrunched up the emptied packet in his hand before standing and starting for the other side of the room. You watched, agitated at your failure, until it suddenly dawned on you what Rais had said yesterday in the pit.

"Is it something to do with the GRE?" you asked, feeling a twitch of success in you when Crane stopped dead.

He spun round to face you, his eyes narrowed with a frown.

"How do you know about that?" he demanded.

You could see that you hit a vein, and rather than admit you knew nothing more than the name, you decided to play on it, lest Crane lose interest.

"Hey, we journalists have our sources." you claimed, giving a light shrug and fishing out another biscuit.

Crane remained where he was, studying you as you crunched on the biscuit and feigned little interest in the situation. You could feel the tension grow with each second, and you wondered why this 'GRE' was so important to Crane. What did the letters even stand for?

"Tell me what you've heard." Crane ordered, crossing her arms over his chest.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" you replied reticently, lifting out the last biscuit. You already felt satisfied as it was, but you needed something else to focus on for your charade.

He continued to stare at you for a few moments, and though your eyes were locked on the food in your hand, you could feel that his expression was tense. You recoiled slightly when he began a powerful walk toward you, struggling to return the glare that he gave as he towered over you. Unwelcomed thoughts of violence invaded your mind, and you made note of the machete still laying beside you on the couch. Fighting someone who just saved your life really wasn't something you wanted to do, but if he decided he wanted to get physical you weren't about to roll over. It didn't help that he was bigger and stronger than you either. Rather than take any action, however, Crane's anger seemed to crumble and he sighed profusely, rubbing a hand up his face.

"Look, (firstname)," he began, his tone being considerably more resigned than moments before.

"I just- I _really_ need you to keep this between us." he stated.

You perked your eyebrows, surprised by another shift in his demeanor. You still wanted to know more, but there was a certain pleading in his eyes that tugged on your heart strings and told you that it was truly important to him. As if that weren't enough, you did owe him your life.

"Fine." you relented.

Crane seemed to continue studying you before extending his gloved hand toward you. You placed the biscuit between you on the couch and shook the hand, offering a small smirk of confidence as you looked at each other.

"Good. Now get some more rest, I'm bringing you to the Tower tomorrow." he said, releasing your hand and resting his forearms on his legs.

"Th-the what?" you asked, raising your eyebrows.

"The Tower." Crane repeated, regarding you curiously.

When your face remained blank, Crane sat a little straighter, his face contorted into confusion.

"How long have you been here?" he asked.

"Three, four days?" you responded, unsure.

Crane rubbed a hand down his chin before scratching at the stubble on his neck while speaking.

"Okay well, uh, The Tower's a... a safe spot for survivors. It's nothing like Rais' place. They're good people." he explained.

You thought on it, chewing your lip as you looked at Crane. It did sound nice to have a safe place to be, especially when you didn't know anything about the city.

"But didn't we agree that I'd just leave you alone after you got me out?" you recalled, folding your arms and leaning back against the couch.

Crane scoffed, making you watch him blankly as he grinned.

"You think I'm gonna leave you alone out there?"

Though you were grateful for Crane's consideration, you were still a little wary.

"Why not?" you wondered.

"I mean, despite everything, we still don't really know each other."

Crane shrugged before looking away and rubbing the back of his neck slowly.

"I'unno, it's the right thing to do."

You smiled faintly, watching him. He almost seemed embarrassed to admit that he was doing something from the good of his heart.

"Well, thank you." you responded, widening your smile when Crane's gaze came back to you.

"No-ah, don't mention it."

"Now really, get some rest." he ordered, bringing his hand back down and seeming to revert back to his usual self.

"We're gonna be going across the roofs tomorrow and I need you awake."

"The roofs?" you echoed, standing up.

"Best way to keep the freaks away. Most of 'em are too dumb and too slow to climb." he claimed.

"Well why don't we just go now? While it's dark?" you asked. Having the cover of the night sounded like a considerable advantage.

"No, no you do  _not_ go out while it's dark." he answered resolutely.

"Well, why not?" you insisted, confused.

"Isn't the darkness a good thing for avoiding the infected?"

Crane was silent, staring at you until he stood himself and beckoned with a nod of his head. He moved toward the metal door you had seen while you followed. His hand came to rest on its rusted handle before he turned his head to you.

"Look, just try to be quiet, alright? We're safe in here but I don't want these motherfuckers banging against the walls all night."

You nodded uncertainly, watching as he eased the door open. You were greeted with a balcony of sorts, with overgrown vines strangling the metal bars that sheltered you both from the outside. Crane stepped out first, glancing back at you before you followed him out. The city looked quite eerie in the night time, dull and lifeless where any other city would be bright with lights at this hour. You surveyed the closer parts of the street below the balcony, struggling slightly for the darkness but still seeing nothing out of the ordinary. The almost gentle gurgling and rasping of the infected below was off-putting, and you weren't sure whether to be happy that you had already begun to feel used to it. Crane lightly smacked your arm and nodded off to the left side of the street when you turned to him. Some way down, the ground was illuminated by a car that was ablaze. Various silhouettes of raggedy looking figures moved in and out of the light, making you grimace when one of them brought the inferno with it, burning as brightly as the car but seeming entirely unfazed as it continued shuffling. Then, a new one appeared just at the edge of the burning car's light, making you peer to see the finer details.

It was tall. Very much so, probably taller than Crane, though hard to tell exactly from such a distance. Even with the light of the fire just barely clinging to its features, you could see that there was much more difference to regular infected than just height. It was entirely naked, with grey, vein ridden skin only clinging on at various points. The other parts of its body were slick with red flesh, as though the skin had been gently peeled off to reveal the muscles underneath. What appeared to be its ribs jutted out from its abdomen at random angles, some of them curved upward. Even disregarding its chilling physical appearance, something off about it in comparison to the others was that it just seemed more _focused_ , making deliberate, determined steps around the flaming vehicle as though actively searching for something.

"Crane, what the fuck is that?" you asked, feeling a chill run through your body.

"They're called volatiles." he answered lowly, using his hand to guide you back into the apartment.

"They only come out at night, so get inside _before_ it gets dark and you won't have a problem." he continued as he closed the door again behind you both.

"So, they're like _vampire_ zombies?" you wondered, making Crane turn to you with a frown.

"No, they're not _vampires_. They're just-" he began, cutting himself short and sighing.

"Okay, that's the _one_ thing- would you just go to sleep already?"

In spite of the circumstances, you found yourself fighting back a smile as Crane moved back over to the couch.

"There's a bedroom beside the bathroom. I'll sleep here." he stated, moving the biscuit and his machete to the coffee stand before laying down.

"Are you-" you began, feeling a little guilty for taking a bed.

"Yes I'm sure." Crane cut off, not looking at you as he settled down.

You watched him for a few moments before heading for the only door you hadn't seen opened yet. You pushed the handle down, ending up having to give the door a few pushes to un-stick it. Once it swung freely, you stepped into an immaculate looking dim room, with only a single window covered by a thin curtain providing small amounts of light. The bed was still neatly made as though someone had done it on any other day in a non-virus infested city. You approached the window, tentatively pulling back the curtain and sighing with relief to find the window protected on the outside by a series of bars. Seeing as you wanted to sleep, you refrained from looking out for more Volatiles and instead let the curtain fall back into place. After turning, you gave the room another scan before noticing a framed photograph on top of a chest of drawers beside you. You lifted it and tilted it toward the window to find a picture of two men, one smiling at the camera while the other kissed his cheek. It appeared to have been taken in another country, with snow and tall mountains filling up the background.

You placed it down again, photo against the surface, and did your best to avoid the dull ache in your heart as you moved over to a closet facing the bed. It was disturbing to think of all the couples and families that must have been torn apart by the outbreak, but at the same time you knew you couldn't let yourself get caught up on such things. What you had to focus on was your own safety, and, as long as he stuck around, Crane's.

The door opened easily, greeting you to a few clothes strewn about the small space, some half stuffed into a gym bag on the floor. Whoever had been packing it seemed to have been in quite a rush. You sank to your knees, digging through the mess and coming upon a neatly folded piece of paper with the name 'Matthew' written on it in cursive. Banishing moral complications of privacy by virtue of the situation, you pulled open the paper and read the inside, straining your eyes against the darkness.

_Matthew_

_Remember on our first date when you said you've always wanted to see the Pyramids up close?_

_Meet me at the airport. Don't forget to take some photos with your 'new' camera! (hipster)_

_Happy Anniversary!_

_Jesse._

You swallowed thickly, folding the paper again and gently placing it aside. There was no use getting caught up in it. With everything going on, the absolute last thing you needed was someone else's misfortune slowing you down. You continued through the bag, going through more clothes until your hand hit a solid mass and you pulled out a small, deep brown leather pouch. It was fairly bulky, definitely full, with a decently sized shoulder strap and metal buttons for securing the flap closed. On the front were two smaller flaps that appeared to be full themselves.

You undid the main flap, pulling out a little black object, resembling a cube with an extension at the back. After some twisting and turning, the press of a button made a section of the cube stand up, and you lifted your eyebrows with surprise to realize that it was one of the old instant cameras, in flawless condition. You rotated it in your hands, fiddling with different parts of it until a section of the bottom half flipped open to reveal that there was already film inside. Squinting for the dark, you could just make out the title 'Autofocus 660' on the film compartment hatch. You clicked the film compartment closed and placed the camera onto the floor beside you, looking to the pouch again and finding a total of eight packs of film with eight shots each in them.

For a moment, you weren't certain what to make of the situation, believing the set to not be of much use until a striking thought dawned on you; You had every plan to survive this mess and make it back home eventually. Once you settled back down you would definitely return to your old job, and what better opportunity for evidence could possibly present itself?

Excited, you retrieved the camera and stood up, swiveling your head back to the main apartment and walking toward it.

"Hey, Crane, check out this-" you began, stopping to find him sitting half up on the couch with your biscuit halfway in his mouth, looking at you wide eyed.

Without hesitation you lifted the camera and aimed through the viewfinder, snapping the photo and waiting for the film to come out while Crane scrambled to his feet. He mumbled something through a half full mouth as he walked over, only being muffled further as he wiped his arm across his mouth.

"What?" you asked, holding the film in front of you and watching it slowly develop as you retreated into the bedroom and placed the camera on the bed.

"The hell are you doing? Gimme that." he commanded, reaching for the photo and missing when you turned away.

"No wait, it's not done yet." you refused, holding the photo closer to you.

"I don't care, give me the fuckin'-" he tried again, missing another swipe.

You jerked away again, a smile forcing its way onto your face as the photo became clearer.

"No, stop, it's nice!" you insisted, laughing through your words as the photo fully developed. Crane looked like a deer caught in headlights as half of a biscuit protruded from his lips, nearly resembling a small child with a pacifier.

"Just look!"

You turned and held the photo up, snickering as Crane's face rapidly evolved from anger to mortification, and then back to anger again. When he reached for the photo you stepped back, forgetting your place and falling onto the bed, facing the ceiling. Crane continued to grasp for the photo and you moved your arm further to the other side of the bed, laughing and stretching to go as far as possible as Crane's arm followed. Then a small weight against the bed beside your hip made you bring your gaze back downward, snagging at Crane hovering just above you.

His head was directly above yours, with his outstretched hand extending on the path to the photo. His free hand braced him against the bed to better allow him to reach, and though you couldn't break your eyes from his, you could feel that his midriff was only inches from your own. You both fell still, trapped in staring at each other as a tense silence amplified, barely dented by the alternating breaths from both of you. Your heart began going wild, and what felt like an hour later Crane swallowed thickly before breaking eye contact and snatching the photo from your hand. He pushed himself back to his feet and looked at the photo a little too closely as you sat up, clenching your hands together while your face approached numbness with the heat that it experienced.

Crane stuffed the photo into his back pocket as he rubbed his neck tensely with the other, his gaze to the side at the floor.

"I-uh.." he began quietly, pausing before turning away without continuing.

You watched him leave the room, shutting the door behind himself and trapping you with your own thoughts. What on Earth had just happened? One moment you had been laughing about a bad picture and suddenly you were being assaulted by too many feelings to count.  Had that just been an awkward moment, or was there something more there? Even as you stood, picking up your camera and heading for the pouch, you kept replaying the scene in your head over and over. The way Crane had been looking at you, and the amount of time you both held it for, did it mean something? Did you want it to?

You placed the pouch at the end of the bed before sliding off your shoes and socks, noting in the back of your mind that you were going to have to try to find some change of clothes in your size sooner or later as you climbed under the covers.

Somehow, past the thoughts ravaging your mind and the intense feelings making your heart bounce like a basketball, you managed to keep your eyes shut long enough to drift to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed that! I was going to extend it further, but I like where I ended it, so I think I'll try (keyword try, focus on that word right there: Try.) to push out two updates this weekend, since I already have the start of the next one written. If it doesn't get done this weekend though, it might not be for another two weeks, because I haven't updated Change of Plan since the late 1960s and I feel bad making everyone wait so long.
> 
> i also recently realized just how badly I messed up the in game story so there's going to be a little bit of shifting around to suit what I have planned. Sorry!


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